Night World: Revenge's Wrath
by Trissica
Summary: *you have to have read the nightworld series by L.J Smith. Its been a year and MAry-Lynnette is graduating, this year is over and that means Ash, her soulmate is coming back. She has choices to make and an adventure she never thought she would ever take.
1. Chapter 1

"Mary-Lynette will you hurry up, how long does it take for you to get ready? We need to be there in like 20 minutes!"

Mary-Lynette was getting ready she was too nervous to. Her final year of high school was over, she was graduating today. Mark, Jade, and Kestrel were already down stairs, each wearing the appropriate attire for this. She wasn't so ready. Rowan was upstairs with her calming her down enough to finish doing her hair. There was just something so comforting about Rowan that seemed to flow into Mary-Lynette.

She had to admit, Rowan was doing a really nice job with her hair. Something that Mary-Lynette could never be able to do. It was a simple pony –tail from the front, but the band was covered by a small weave of braids and somehow she had stuck small fake diamonds into her hair.

"You know if you opened up a hair salon here you would make a killing! Seriously if you do hair half as good as this you would be unstoppable." Mary-Lynnette exclaimed as she looked at her hair in the mirror. Rowan just smiled and cleaned up the bathroom that was filled with the heavy sent of hairspray.

"Well when you have had as much free time as I had you tend to get creative with simple things such as putting your hair up, now are we ready to go?"

She wanted to say no, but nodded her head and got up. Mary-Lynnette had been hoping that Ash would knock on their door at any minute. He had said that he could come back for her when the school year was over. All year that was all she could do, count the days until he could come back. After all he was her soulmate. Kestrel told Mary-Lynnette once that soulmates sometimes don't stay together because of the emotions that build up, but that was something she didn't understand and didn't want to understand.

It was hard being away from him, she missed him. But he needed to do this, they both needed to decide what they wanted. If Ash wanted to be tied down to her and if she would give up everything she knew to be with him. Right now her thoughts had been leaning toward being like him and his sisters, being part of the nightworld. To be that strong and that beautiful, that fierce; to be a hunter that was strong. It was tempting not to be weak anymore; she had already seen the strength of the nightworld's creatures, vampires and werewolves. From what Jade had said there were also Witches. She couldn't be like her twin brother, Mark, who's soulmate was Jade. She couldn't be like them, making laughs and giggles and not worry about the future of them. Neither could Ash.

Still….. She wished that he could be here.

They made their way down the stairs, the first click of the high heels on woods and everyone was up. Her father and Claudia with the camera snapping pictures and everyone else were looking anxious to get on the move and head to graduation.

"You said that I had to wear a dress! Look at Mare; she's not wearing a dress!" It was true everyone else was wearing a dress. Mary-Lynnette wasn't. She had on black boots that were covered by black dress pants. Her shirt was red like blood, which was a bit ironic since she was surrounded by vampires who live off blood; it was a low v-neck cut. The sleeves looked as if they had been cut from the shoulder and reattached themselves back at her wrists. And with the amount of make-up and hair spray in her hair Mary-Lynnette felt almost like a model or something. Or almost as pretty as a vampire, she smirked inwardly at that though.

"Well, I think that Mary-Lynnette looks beautiful!" Jade exclaimed her arms wrapped around Mark. Jade looked wonderful in her dress. It pale green that not many people could pull off, but against Jade's pale features it was absolutely gorgeous.

"I didn't say that, I just said why I couldn't wear something like that instead of wearing this?!" Kestrel said hotly. Her dress just made it to the knees and was a dark maroon color. Mary-Lynnette couldn't see why she was complaining.

Rowan followed Mary-Lynnette down the stairs; hers was just a summer dress that had the pattern of leaves swirling across the fabric. It made her more neutral features stand out and her kind eyes sparkle. It was like prom or something the way that everyone was acting, but it was something to be celebrated they were graduating and things were never going to be the same again, especially for her.

She hadn't talked to Ash since he left, but his sisters had filled her in on everything, how he was doing. What he was doing for her, he was proving himself more than she ever thought, more than he needed to. It made her miss him more.

"Is everyone ready to go? I can't wait to see you kids graduate!" Claudia bounced excitedly on her heels. Only she could get more excited about graduation then the actual kids.

So they all herded out the door; Mark and Jade went in his car, Mary-Lynnette's parents in their car, and the rest filed into Mary-Lynnette's car. But not before she gave a quick check around. A small bit of hope died, but it didn't mean all of it.

"Mare, he'll be here. He always runs late to everything." Rowan still stood there by the door. Her face smiled knowingly, but still had a bit of sadness. Ash was busy right now; they all knew that, he had joined the group circle daybreak. A group dedicated to unite the nightworld and humans so that we could all live peacefully. They all knew that he might not be able to make it.

Mary-Lynnette sighed and hoped in the car, the next few hours were going to be really eventful.

Hunter Red Fern opened the side door of the limousine and stepped out into the glare of the sun; His daughter lily following obediently by his side. There were plans that needed to be carried out, revenge against his so called family. The lamia name was turned into a disgrace by his own family members. First James, then Ash, his sisters, Quinn, and even the witches of his family were now becoming a disgrace. It was time they learned to respect their elders and the laws, that humans were vermin. They did not deserve to be on the same playing field as the nightworld. They were weak in all senses, strength and the 5 senses. They were simply a food source and they should know this! But he would get them to understand; otherwise they were going to know the full wrath of their family. And if they didn't want o cooperate, well there were other ways of taking care of them, striking at the heart…..or striking at them.

Many of the graduating class had been nervous beyond belief; they had practically stumbled off the stage when they got their diplomas. Mary-Lynnette was just happy that it was over, that and the fact that she could shed that uncomfortable robe. She had looked over in the crowd and tried to get a glimpse of someone other than her parents and Rowan in the crowd. But she didn't and it hurt a little bit.

But Mary-Lynnette still smiled and snapped so many pictures with family members she swore that she was going to go blind. It was driving her insane! The after party was the worst; every parent was asking every graduate where they were heading. What could she say? "Well…. I am not sure if I want to go to college or become a vampire like my soulmate. It's a hard choice to make" Oh yeah that would go over well with everyone.

She sat at the farthest table and gazed out at everyone. Mark and Jade were joined at the hip; they were talking to all these different people. Mark had become so such popular with everyone. Jade had opened up the shy kid that he had once been and left him open to the world. She was able to do what Mary-Lynnette was never able to do and she was thankful. It was wonderful that Mark was able to get out there and it was all because of his soulmate.

And there was Rowan and Kestrel, surrounded by a whole bunch of boys. Not that they looked like they were interested; Rowan put on a pleasant and patient smile and tried to ignore all the invitations and flirting. Kestrel just looked bored, plan bored. Everything was a bit too tamed in this town for her. And it was true, nothing ever happened in this boring town. The most exciting thing you could do here was probably watch the rat races that were held at the local bar.

Mary-Lynnette heaved a heavy sigh and swirled the remaining liquid in her glass around. Maybe if she kept back her for a bit longer she could make her break……

And that's when Mr. Unwanted sat down right in front of her.

"Hey there girl" He tried to make his voice smooth like butter, but it was just a big annoyance. She wasn't interested in his phony New York City accent or his bleach blonde hair. For the last year he had been chasing her, granted he was going out with other girls in the process. She wasn't sure why this was happening. It seemed like after last summer people looked at her differently, almost as if she knew that she wasn't the old Mary-Lynnette that she had been. Jade said that it might have had to do with the fact that she had two blood exchanges. But they weren't sure.

"What do you want Jordan?" I really did not want to deal with him right now.

"Aw, come on Mare, can't I hang out with a beautiful girl?"

"Don't call me Mare" she growled

"Your brother and his girlfriend and sisters call you mare. Your whole family calls you mare."

"Which should give you a big enough clue?" Please let him get the clue. She rolled her eyes when he gave her a stupid grin and leaned back like he was something. That was when she saw something that made her heart stop. A lithe figure was walking out into the garden, a lithe figure with ash blonde hair.

She stood up abruptly and walked away; leaving Jordan to work out his own problems with his ego. Right now her mind was set on the boy with the ash blonde hair.

Her boots clicked against the pavement of the garden. Her heart had swelled. She had to have seen him, but no matter how much she wished and prayed he didn't walk out from behind a tree or a wall. It was her imagination that could be the only reason. Mary-Lynnette was furious with herself, she was being selfish. Ash was proving himself for her and was doing so much good and all she could do is pout and act like a little kid when he wasn't there. I just miss him so much, she thought. But still that was no reason for her to act like a little girl.

There was no other choice but to go back to the party, but she didn't want to. She was annoyed with the constant snapping of cameras and all the questions about the future. She couldn't even answer her own mind when it asked her, so how could she answer everyone else? Mark and Jade both had scholarships to multiple colleges, but more than likely they were going to stay together. Rowan would take of her Aunt Opal's house and Kestrel…..well no one was really sure what she was going to do, not even her sisters knew. And they could read each other thoughts. And Mary-Lynnette was debating on becoming a vampire like Ash. The closer graduation came and people started going there ways the more Mary-Lynnette leaned toward being part of the nightworld. She had turned Ash down the last time because she hadn't been ready, she didn't want to leave behind her family and friends. But things were different now. Many people she was never going to see again because they had their own live to live. Her parents were a different matter though; maybe they would except what she would become. Claudia was into that sort of thing anyway, but being into it and seeing it are two different things thought. Mary-Lynnette was torn. She growled and slumped onto the nearest bench and gave up for the time being. She was tearing herself apart for a decision that she didn't need to make yet.

"There you are, I was looking for you" Jordan sat down next to her. His cool mete high, meaning his ego was higher.

Mary-Lynnette placed herself in a hostile pose. Her arms crossed over her chest and her face pointed away from his. It didn't stop him, his arm stretched out over the back of the bench, his hand only a few inches from her shoulder. It was closing in, "Listen, Bunny is having a party at her house and I was wondering if you and me could—"

Mary-Lynnette stood up as his hand was about to clasp her shoulder. "I told you I am seeing someone. The answer is no."

He jumped up and followed her as she walked off. God, can this guy know the definition of no, Mary-thought bitterly. What made her angrier was that he was still playing it cool, like she was playing hard to get or something that was a gross thought.

"Look I know your shy, it's ok. We can take things slow if you want. Besides its going to be an awesome party you can't miss out on."

"Did you completely miss the part where I said I was seeing someone? Or did it just bounce off that thick skull of yours; I told you I'm not interested."

That easy going smile left his face, "You've been saying you're seeing someone for the past year and no one has seen him at all. This is a small hick of a town but anyone knew to these parts doesn't go unnoticed. Even if you did have something going on with him it's over and you know it. He's already forgotten about you."

Mary-Lynnette gave him the coldest stare that she could and tried to hide the pain from those words. "You don't know anything. Your ego blocks out any smarts you may have had."

"I know that you've never dated anyone from this town. That you spend all your time with your asthmatic brother and his way too hot girlfriend. You waste your time gazing at stars and waiting for a guy who's never coming back." He moved closer until her back was against the way and he was leaning over her. "Especially since there is a guy right in front of you that could show you things a hell of a lot better than gazing at stars and I bet show you things that guy never could show you."

That was when the rest of her patience snapped and Mary-Lynnette slapped his as hard as she could across the face. He didn't miss a beat though. Jordan grabbed her wrist and pulled her so that her face was only inches away from his. Jordan was not nearly as strong as a vampire but he was strong enough to keep her where he wanted, even when she struggled against him grip.

"Jordan, let go!" She yanked on her wrist, but she wouldn't budge, his grip became tighter. His face no longer easy-going, it was hard and angry. He hadn't even paid attention when she snapped at him. "You know I've been very patient with you Mary-Lynnette because I knew that you were shy and have never been dumped before. It's had to process, I get it, but I don't like that you slapped me," His hand tightened around her wrist making her wince, "I really don't like that you slapped me."

"Jordan, let go of my wrist." Mary-Lynnette kept her voice steady, but she was getting nervous. Jordan had been a spoiled rich kid from the moment he was born and got everything he wanted. His temper wasn't uncommon but it was something that people should be wary of. He didn't listen and wouldn't budge when she tried to free her wrist.

"I think you should listen to her." The voice was cold and steely, but it made Mary-Lynnette's heart stop and swell. She tried to turn and get a glimpse of him, but his face was blocked by the girth of Jordan and saw that his face twitch with annoyance.

But he didn't bother to move his eyes from Mary-Lynnette's while he called over his shoulder, "This is none of your business, why don't you head back to the party?"

"This is my business"

Jordan growled, "Says who?" He challenged

"Says the boyfriend" that word sent chills down her spine and a smile to creep across her face. That word boyfriend wasn't like soulmate, but it was still a wonderful word to hear.

What was wonderful to Mary-Lynnette was pissing off Jordan completely. He spun around, his hand still gripping her wrist hard. Jordan was ready to fight, at least he seemed ready to until he got a good look at his face.

"Ash" Mary-Lynnette smiled at those words. Ash's eyes met hers for a moment at his name and she watched his eyes soften. But they changed the instant they left her and landed back on Jordan. "Are you going to let her go?" it wasn't so much a question as it was a challenge, one that Jordan wasn't so confident in as the moments went by. Finally Jordan dropped Mary-Lynnette's wrist and threw up his hands as a sign of surrender, that stupid smirk back on his face. "Sorry man, I didn't know she was taken." He walked away then like had won the battle, but not before throwing Mary-Lynnette a cold stare. She glared at him as he walked off angry at him, but even angrier at herself. Last year she had fought and killed a werewolf, this year she couldn't even protect herself from an over horny jock.

"You alright?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and found Ash right in front of her. His cold hard face was replaced with soft and kind eyes. Almost like the old Ash had never existed. His eyes were on her wrist and Mary-Lynnette realized that she had been rubbing the area absently. "Yeah, I'm alright. I told you I can take care of myself."

He chuckled, "Well I came anyway. And……haven't I heard that before?" It was basically her famous saying last year. I can take care of myself.

Her smile was wide now and her eyes ended up at the sky. It was almost dark out now and the stars would be out. "It will be dark soon. You want to take a look at the stars?"

"You know something, that's all I have been wanting to do for a long time. But you sure you want to leave this after graduation party?" His tone was mocking.

Mary-Lynnette took one look back over her shoulder and back at Ash. "I'll get the car keys."

"Ok…..and that one right there…..yeah, that Cassiopeia…..and that one, that's Betelgeuse…..no the one on your right" Mary-Lynnette guided his hand for him because for some reason we couldn't point out the star for himself. But instead of letting her guide his hand, he took hers in his own. Their fingers intertwining and he pulled their hands toward him, looking at their hands and fingers like they were works of art.

They were laying in the bed of the truck, a blanket spread under them. It hadn't been the car that she would have wanted, but right now at this moment it was perfect. Right now, gazing at the stars with her soulmate, just sitting there with him, she couldn't think of anything that she would rather do.

"I'm making you proud of me Mary-Lynnette. I'm bringing you dragons."

"Ash, I'm already proud of you. You already did more than anyone would do or even could do. I really am proud of you" She turned her head away from the sky to look at him. She could see in his eyes how much it mattered to him, how special it was that she was proud of him. It made her stomach do flips and her hear swell even more than she thought.

But even a moment like this couldn't last forever and even though she wasn't a mind reader she knew that he was holding back something. Whatever it was, it was bothering him. Ash was struggling to tell her something, but like her he didn't want to ruin this moment. They hadn't seen each other in over a year….. And now something was going to change this. Mary-Lynnette was almost afraid to ask him, "Ash what's wrong?"

He sighed, defeated. "I can't keep nothing from you can I?"

"Nope, I'm your soulmate, you're stuck with me. So that means that you better spill" He raised on eyebrow at her when she gave her command. "And what if I don't?" He challenged. This time it was her turn to raise an eyebrow, but this time her eyes grew confident and teasing. "You won't be allowed to kiss me."

That got him good. He sprang up onto his elbows and frowned, "Says who?"

"Says me" She shot back. But he matched her smile with his own. "You know I am a lot stronger than you. I don't think you would win" he mocked.

Mary-Lynnette's smile grew wider, her muscles tensed and her hand gripped the rail of the truck, "Try me" As fast as she could, the girl sprang up and jumped off taking a running start. Behind her she could pick up the sounds of scrambling as Ash took off after her, but not before hearing him call her a cheater. "You didn't say anything about rules!" She called back.

She suddenly she felt warm breath in her ear and an arm wrap around her middle. "Then you can't say I cheated" Ash lifted her up off the ground and turned her so that she was facing him. His lips pressed against her, they were soft and warm. His lips moved against hers, he was gentle and the kiss was sweet. They needed each at that moment and were lost in it. Mary-Lynnette was filled with love, comfort and joy.

They broke apart, both slightly dizzy and light headed, but so happy at the moment. I don't think I could ever be happier than I am at this moment.

"Cheater" She mumbled. He laughed as her feet touched the ground again and their foreheads pressed together. They stood there for a moment lost in their thoughts of one another, each loving the moment that was so perfect…. And yet so troubled.

There's that feeling again. He's not telling me something. But then she knew and it broke her heart almost. Mary-Lynnette was afraid to ask the question she knew would have no good ending. "Ash, when are you going back?"

Ash gave a defeated sigh and pulled back to look at her. His fingers came up to brush hair away from her face. She watched his eyes go from soft tenderness to pain. "I have to leave tomorrow night."

"But you just got here" Her voice cracked.

"I know……but things are getting….intense right now with circle daybreak and…..they need me there. Besides its not safe if I stay here too long. Something may come here and if anything happened to you……." He struggled with his words, lost in a nightmare that played inside his head over and over. Mary-Lynnette pulled herself to him, trying to comfort him with something warm and real. His chin rested on the top of her head and he spoke now that he had something real to hold on to. "I saw what it did to someone who lost his soulmate countless times. She came back to him, but…… I don't think I could even deal with that once. He had always looked so lost and hurt without her. I can't lose you. I want you safe and I am going to make it safe." From starting off broken, the ending of his words ended strong. He meant everything he said and it made her heart ache.

I could never love someone more than I love him.

"Well, we have a lot of stories to catch up on tonight." This time she pulled back from him and pulled out her bravest, strongest smile she could, "Tell me about the dragons you slay and I'll tell you the stars I counted"


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry for the very VERY long delay with the next chapter. However, I will be posting THREE this week. Yes, I said three. That's because there has been too much.. (pardon my French) crap going on where I am and I cannot write nearly as much. Its all been done in a notebook. SO I hope that the fans of this series will be just a little bit more patient with me. Thank you so much


	3. Chapter 3

_Right now she wished she was Rashel the cat again. Not for the sake of the old life, but for the confidence and strength her mind had once possessed. But meeting her soul mate changed that. That old part of her life was ripped away to expose a new and more delicate girl underneath. _

_Rashel and Quinn had become circle day breakers, getting rid of those who want to do harm for no reason and unnecessary killings. Meeting Quinn had changed her a lot, not only did she join an organization and work alongside people she use to kill, but met her brother who she thought she died all those years ago. _

_Her foot tapped impatiently at the door that kept her out of a room she was most anxious about. Out of all the reasons the most important was getting Timmy help. He still had the body and maturity of a bo, but somehow had the thinking of an adult. It was like child, adult, and animal all rolled up into one, It was a mind set she wasn't comfortable with._

"_What's taking so long?" She mumbled._

_When it came to the matter of Timmy, Rashel was impatient. IT felt like she had a lot of years to make up and she was way behind._

_An older werewolf, Michael Gunderson, had taken an interest in Timmy when he first showed up, baring his fangs trying to bite Rashel's arm to pieces when she carried him over the threshold of Thierry's manor. _

_Both Thierry and Gunderson had promised to do all they could to ensure that Timmy could be helped from what he had been exposed to for eleven years. Gunderson claimed that he had been doing great with the sessions, but every time Rashel went near Timmy things went from bad to worse. It hurt, even though she'd never say it out loud, it hurt when her brother went that direction. Bringing up that day that still made Rashel have nightmares. Her brother, in his own words, thought that she was vermin. Her brother saw her as nothing else but that. _

_Maybe I should have waited for Quinn to come back._

_Quinn had gone to the airport to pick up Ash Redfern. Maybe even brining up his soul mate, Mary-Lynnette with him. _

_But Rashel wanted to feel strong, even when she knew that Quinn wouldn't be there to support her back. Now, though, she was regretting it._

_Too late now._

_The door opened and a grizzly mass of hair stuck out form the door way. Gunderson smiled at her through his frizzy beard. Many of the household had a hard time remembering that this man could turn into a killer werewolf whenever needed. "Hey Rashel, you ready to come in?"_

_As if she was a little girl again she nodded quietly and padded in as the door opened wider for her. _

_Timmy sat there, eyeing her coolly with an expression unreadable. His sleek black hair hung loose and messy as if he just hopped out of bed. His body looked exactly like a five year old, but the clothing didn't seem to match him at all. It made him look completely out of place._

_Neither said a word, just stared at each other. At least he's not screaming at me anymore. But Rashel didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse. At least when eh was yelling she knew what he was thinking. But all this thoughts were kept inside him and she couldn't understand the look; was he apprehensive, angry, frustrated…..betrayed?_

_Gunderson must have felt the tension or at least wanted to save Rashel from this awkward situation. The burly man fell into his seat, slapping his knees with the palms of his hands. It was a sign to start the rest of the session. _

"_Well Timmy, now that Rashel's here we can fully being. Remember what I said though, certain questions are off topic."_

_The boy like creature nodded his head slowly and turned his eyes back onto the stiff sister across the room. His mind processed a question, making Rashel squirm in an unfamiliar way._

"_How is it, that a human like you can fight?" It was all he asked and gazed at her like an adult waiting for the guilty child's answer. _

_But Rashel kept her voice steady and calm, with pride she said, "I had a sensei who taught me how to fight. I trained for a lot of years before I became strong enough to use what I have deep inside me."_

"_But now strong enough because your sensei was killed by superior beings."_

"_Timmy" Gunderson warned._

_But the creature ignored the doctor and pressed on. "I'm really surprised that my human blood could survive this long when her won sensei couldn't'. A vampire killed him, right? Well that's what a vermin gets for trying to take on something superior to themselves."_

_Rashel pushed back pain that seemed to well up inside her. "My sensei was strong and important to me. Timmy he died because he had been protecting me for so long. We were five when we lost mom and grandma, when I wasn't with a foster family my sensei kept me from getting into trouble……He was like a father."_

_She hadn't meant to tell so much and realized she said too much. Because she brought up the past. Gunderson had warned Rashel to avoid that topic as much as possible because Timmy……_

_If he still had the choice and could turn back time he would have ran back inot the fire that night after Hunter Redfern. The man he saw as his father. _

_Timmy leaned forward and -smiled. "Pity. You should have died, at least then your precious sensei would still be alive. And it wouldn't have been your fault."_

_Rashel went rigid in the chair. How had he….? But then she remembered, vampires could see into people's mind whenever they wanted. She kept forgetting that Timmy wasn't that little boy who couldn't climb up the jungle gym. The creature had already admitted to killing his own share of people. _

"_Timmy, that's enough" Gunderson reprimanded._

_Rashel didn't want the session to end yet. Maybe if she could explain things to him. "Timmy, please, if you could just give me a chance. I'm sorry-"_

"_Get out of my face before I rip your throat out."_

_Now Gunderson was out of his chair, his voice stern and fierce, "Timmy, enough. Your sister is trying only to start a relationship with you again. This is your sister." _

_She left though before she could hear anymore or have a fake apology from her brother. She just wanted Timmy to get better, for him to be the way she remembered him. At least the way he should have been. Not the way he is now. _

_Her ears heard the click of the door and heavy steps. "Rashel, I'm sorry about what happened. I was sure that he was ready. I should have waited longer before I had you two meet again."_

_She faced the doctor, before thinking that she would show the cold side of herself. But then she saw his face and she just deflated. "I don't care what happens to my feelings. I just want my brother to get better. Fix whatever was done to him by that monster. I won't ever get my old brother back, I know this. Just do what you can for him. Ok?" Rashel didn't wait for his answer, she walked out to the gardens in the back. Work on something, anything to keep her mind busy.

* * *

_

_She passed by the other couples that lived in the mansion. When she first got here, it was pretty much empty but the longer she stayed the more it became less than empty. Almost every day new soul mates were showing up on the doorstep asking for help. Many of these couples were sent away to other safe houses, but those that were most useful stayed here, hoping to some help. Of course when many of the vampires found out she was the Rashel the cat there were many mixed emotions. But she hadn't cared, all she wanted was help for her brother. She was use to the hateful, scared looks from strangers, even her foster family. It came with the territory._

_It was noisy inside that place, either a TV was blasting in a room, a bunch of people chatting animatedly, or even some people trying to start a game or something. Whatever the case, out here in the garden was the most peaceful and quiet place in Thierry's manor besides his study. Only Lady Hannah , his own soul mate was allowed to go there. _

_The garden was filled with exotic flowers from around the world. Some coming from places that made certain flowers extinct. It was quiet, tranquil, and a sense of delicacy to it. Quite the opposite from her mind, which was always running with problems trying to find solutions._

_Right now she wished Quinn was here with her, only he could really make her midn calm down even for a short while. _

_Her thoughts now landed solely on Quinn. Where was he right at this moment? Where ever he was she'd wait for him right there in the garden, it was after all the quietest place.

* * *

_

_Quinn had actually been relieved when he pulled into the driveway of the manor. Leaving Rashel alone wasn't something he particularly felt comfortable with, especially with her brother in the same house. When it came to her brother, Timmy, it surprised him how much Rashel was different. Almost like two different people. Only around that boy and himself did she show a small weakness. _

_But he was still so proud of her, still knowing that she was still the same girl she first met, a human who wasn't looking for her own destruction, strong, intelligent, and beautiful. Most would have sunk into a depression or been too weak to fight nearly as much as she had. In a way he felt honored to have a soul mate like her, lucky in fact._

"_How has everything here been?" Ash Redfern asked breaking the long enduring silence._

"_More and more of the night world and day people keep coming together, soul mate in hand."_

"_Is it just me or has this soul mate principal thing become almost like an epidemic? It seemed to start with James and spread to every Redfern, relative or not. _

_Quinn thought on that for a moment, over the century people have found their one true person or creature. There are few though. Either they would stay together or leave each other. But right now, almost everyday a new couple would show up seeking protection. In all the centuries that he'd been alive for, he had only seen a handful. At that time he had never even really believed in the whole principal until Rashel came into the picture. _

"_The witches that are still at the manor think it has something to do with the old powers."_

_Ash snorted almost with a carefree manner, "You really believe in that? Karma of the old power biting us in the ass?"_

_At a red light Quinn turned toward Ash, giving him a smile that made many scared and uncomfortable. Showing his predator smile, "Do you believe in vampires?"

* * *

_

_Quinn pulled into the driveway fo the mansion, the rustic bricks creaking slightly under the wheels of the car._

_Grumbling like a little kid Ash pulled himself from the passenger side with only the small sentence of "I'm going to bed."_

_He didn't acknowledge Ash though, just turned off the car and looked for a particular person and when his eyes spotted the gruffy figure Quinn made a bee line for him. Of course, though, when your waling toward a werewolf they usually know your coming before you can even think on your next move. Gunderson spun immediately on his hells and hastily paced toward Quinn. _

"_Is everything ok?"_

_The doctor sighed with a disappointment and shook his head. "The attempt didn't go nearly as well as I would have hoped. Or Rashel hoped for that matter." He sighed again, pushing back a mop of hair. "She said she was fine, but she was talking to a physiatrist after all."_

_Quinn grimaced with distain, "I'll go see how she is. I just wish that she had waited for me to come back. She's too brave for her own good"

* * *

_

_Rashel hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep until a hand fell on her shoulder, shaking her gently. Her eyes found Quinn automatically and a feeling of ease and calm swam through her system. "How was the trip?"_

_She sat up from the bench to offer Quinn a seat. _

"_It was as fine as picking a person from the airport up."_

"_So the famous soul mate everyone has heard so much about hasn't come yet?"_

_Quinn settled back into the bench, "Guess not."_

_They sat in a silence, wrapped in the feeling of each other, Quinn giving her support and comfort she needed but would never admit to needing._

"_You saw Timmy again." He stated._

_Rashel heaved a heavy sigh and pulled forward slightly, "I thought that he had died along with my mom. Now almost a month ago I find that he has been alive all this, John that was 12 years ago. He had been with that man for so long, I have no idea what he went through. I should have paid more attention to what I was doing and thinking. I could have done more, paid attention to the nightwalkers, find out as much as I possibly could about Hunter Redfern. If I had done a good job then maybe my own brother wouldn't want me dead for so long and want to kill me."_

_Quinn sat there in complete silence, rubbing circles in her upper back as a sign of comfort. After a bit, though, he spoke, "it wasn't your fault. You were so young and so was Timmy. You couldn't know what was happening and never would have thought that at the time was right. Nothing else you could do. As for Timmy…"_

_Rashel pulled into him, feeling like she was falling in love with him all over again. "I just have to wait and keep on showing Timmy that I am here. I know that I can't have what I did at 5 years old, but I can at least show Timmy that he is my brother."_

_Proud of the strong women that she was, Quinn pulled Rashel closer than she already was. "You have me too. Don't forget that. I love you Rashel Jordan and I'll love you until the day die."_

_She chuckled, "That wouldn't happen until the end of eternity. You can't die."_

_Rashel felt her chin being gently pulled up and found John Quinn's eyes. The first time she saw those eyes they seemed to have a darkness that never ended and could never have a light shine in them. But now as she sat there, not far from his lips did she see a wondrous light and it seemed to almost burn. Quinn gave her a smile, only meant for her, showing a side that no one else got to see. "So when eternity ends, I'll stop loving you. Rashel, eternity never ends."_

_And he kissed her, soft and sweet._

_Above them, Rashel didn't see the eyes that stared down at them in utter confusion. Not only in them but in the whole situation of people. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chp 3.

Mary-Lynnette

Packing...packing...what else was there to get? Her eyes fell over the walls debating on the last minute pictures she should or shouldn't take. Why was this so hard? Mare bite the end of her fingernail, a habit that she had unwontedly picked up from somewhere or other. If there is one thing that I truly don't like is packing for college.

6 months from now was her birthday. She'd be 18 but wanting college years now instead of waiting no matter how much Claudia wanted her to stay. Apparently Mary-Lynnette wasn't ready to truly take on such a major event yet. But she needed to keep thinking of things other than that morning when Ash had made that offer...

My dad is seriously going to kill me... Those were the first thoughts that came to mind. Her father was going to have a major, full blown fit and it would not be pretty. But she didn't really care, at least not when things were so...perfect.

Her hair was mushed by sleep and the makeup that Rowan had focused to such a detail was all but gone with sleep. Yet she never felt more beautiful. It was strange... This warm feeling that was spreading through all the way down to her fingers, it was something new to her.

Sunrise was peeking over the hills and tugging at the lids covering her eyes. Mare felt Ash's breath hot on her neck in a rhythm that almost lulled her back to sleep. Ash was still living in his dreams, his arm around her protectively with her head nestled in the crook of his arm. The night air had been so warm that there had been no need for a blanket, only his jacket which was now draped over her... It couldn't have been more perfect.

Then ash stirred, groaning when he sifted slightly against her shoulder. "Damn sun...ruining...stupid..."

Mary-Lynnette couldn't help but biting her lip to keep from giggling, the strong vampire sleeping beside was being held hostage by the dim light. Ash pulled her closer together, "Need more warmth" his excuse.

She turned, facing him, his eyes never opened. The sight of this seemingly big cat in such a fragile state made her giddy, Mary-Lynnette was actually giddy and it was all due to the guy that was around her. So she kissed him, feeling the warmth of his breath, the surprise with unyielding lips, and then the warmth as he soon began to take the lead. Ash's hand coming up and warming the back of her neck and the way that his lips moved against hers, there wasn't a desperate sense that she'd had with his kisses before, of the excitement of no longer holding back. This was different, one that said that it was just because they were together, no urgency or hungry need. This kiss was the sweetest because they could simply kiss. The knowledge that they had nowhere to go, they were exactly where they wanted to be.

Ash pulled back, his eyes falling into hers. They were a brilliant color that reminded her of falling water the pale blue and swirl of gray. The color was born for this moment and only she was able to see it. His gaze was intense, she had to look away Mary-Lynnette watched the sun over the hills.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"Yeah" But somehow she knew he wasn't talking about the sky.

Then he pulled away slightly. The moment was gone. "I have to get going. The plane is leaving in a few hours." He stated it. And it made her heart sink, she'd forgotten all about it. Though, she didn't let him see and pulled her face away from his.

"How long are you going for?"

"I don't know this time. But I will be back sooner."

Sooner isn't good enough...but she didn't dare say it. It just wouldn't be fair; he didn't need to know her guilt. Ash didn't need to leave with that guilt either. It didn't matter though; perhaps it was this soulmate cord that tugged at him, the one that perhaps, whispered in his ear about what was really going on in her heart.

His fingers brushed against her skin, forcing her face to look up at him, "What do you want to do after this summer?"

Mary-Lynnette blinked, "What?"

"What are you doing after the summer ends?"

Her brow furrowed, "I wasn't sure really. I mean there was college of course that my parents wanted me to attend, I mean it's not something I really thought about—"

"Come back with me." He said

"I mean that there were a couple of classes that I was— WHAT?"

"Come with me" he repeated. "Come with me, if you think about it you would be safe. We could be safe together. Mary-Lynnette we could be together."

She pushed away slightly, looking up at his face. Ash's eyes a wondrous blue that made her brain and consciousness fizzles out. What was her offering her? This had come up so suddenly, of course she wanted to. But want is so much different from should.

"Ash, I do...it's just..."

Her family...

Then his arms were around her, pulling her close. "Don't worry about it. Go to college and go find more stars for us." His eyes darkened and she could swear that they were wet.

Hands grasped at his face pulling him closer, pulling him to look at her eyes. "Ash that's not fair," She whispered, "If I could I would jump on a plane with you. I just don't have an eternity of one life time like you do. I may never be an old soul. So I have to make more of everything. I wish I did, I wish that I could have had those years together that we never had. I hate that we only had last year together and now that all of this...everything with the four powers coming to play."

Mary-Lynnette turned away now afraid that her own eyes would start to show her emotions too well. "You do so much and I always feel like I should be by your side. But...I...I don't think I can be that strong person you need me to be."

Only for a brief moment the morning birds sounded off in soft lullabies. But then there was warm breath at the nap of her neck and something soft press against the skin there. "You have always been that strong person that I needed. You opened up a person that had disappeared long ago. But your right, go and see this world, away from the nightworld for a little bit. I will always be waiting for you, that's one thing you never have to fear."

Things were settled then; Mary-Lynnette saw Ash off from the airport and watched the plane disappear in the sky. She felt the silver cord inside her weaken and then sever from her. It hadn't been so painful the last time. Why was this so different?

Her lists of things needing to get done were finished, a green crayon checking off the final things. According to that she was all set. Yet why did she feel something was completely out of place? IT couldn't be homesickness already, she was only an hour away and half of her stuff was already at the college warehouse waiting for her signature to sign it out and take it up to a room number. Her father and step-mother had already gone and said their good-byes; they had left to visit a distant relative or something. Mare hadn't been really paying any attention that morning to anything but her cereal when they said that they had to go somewhere. They said they would stop by once she settled in though. ...

It couldn't be homesick. What was it?

I just need to clear my head. That's all. But almost tripped when her foot snagged against something on the floor, a book of poems...Jane Austin, this woman wrote about the different views of the world. It wasn't merely about love and the baffling flaws of it. There were no words of languishing lust or yearning for someone. It was poems that had viewed the world differently from all others. It torn at the complexity of her mind and the questions that most left buried behind in their thoughts. Yet it was one of Ash's favorite poets because of that small fact. No...not small...huge.

To someone else it might only seem just so small. But it wasn't to him. It certainly wasn't to her. Only last year she had discovered a world she only thought lived in the movies. The person she loved so much was a part of this world. It was strange how she was so involved and thinking constantly about him. How much he is a part of his own world. How she thought about him. Ash had told her the stories about some of the other soulmates that stumble onto the steps of some mansion near Vegas. How together they both dove into this new world hand in hand together. Yet how come she couldn't do this? Why couldn't she be one of them who will stand by their partner through everything? There are other human soulmates that have sacrificed the comfortable world they know...so why shouldn't she?

This is the role that comes with knowing about the nightworld.

It's about time that I finally accept it all...

"Hey how long are you going to sit there and contemplate what you should bring for this?" Mark stood in her doorway. His teeth biting into an apple, it was so much different from those teeth that she would sometimes couldn't help but think about.

Mary-Lynnette stared down at the suitcase before her. She was all packed. For college?

Most don't start until they're 18 years old. She was 17...

Her fingers curled over the metal zipper tugging along, locking her clothes in place. Her mind was made up. "I need to use to computer for a moment."

Mark stared at her baffled. "I don't know why you're asking...but ok...?"

She pushed passed him, almost knocking the apple out of his hand. "Do you think that it's too late?"

"Do late for what? Getting some sense?"

Mary-Lynnette smiled at her younger brother, "Is it too late to change the plane ticket?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chp. 5

There is something about the rain. Something about it that is hypnotizing, almost like nature's lullaby that just simply puts the world to sleep. There are many people that love it, strangely so did she. There was something about the way that the water seemed to wash away all the scents of the world, giving everything a clean slate. It was nice.

The girl by the window chuckled to herself. Already she was strange and now she was openly admitting that she now liked rain. In general most cats don't like rain. However to a panther there wasn't anything all that terrifying about the rain. Then again nothing in the world really was to such a powerful animal. If anyone hadn't realized the girl was Keller a shapeshifting panther, a nightworlder.

And right now it was raining and it seemed as though the world was on a stand still. No stood outside in the world, there was no trace of what was really going on either. The rain hides the truth of everything all so well; everything that was really going on in the world, how people hideaway in their home without realizing the danger that they were all in and they didn't want to care. Maybe that was why she loved the rain so much, because it gave a false safe hood. If only for a moment.

Keller had just come in from the rain, her jet black hair still dripping from outside. She laughed at herself, getting caught in the rain. She was so caught up in running, her legs pumping and her muscles straining and burning as she ran faster and faster. Then is started to rain and she felt herself slip away from it all. The panther had to admit it had been pretty fun.

Her towel soaked up the remaining water and for the moment allowed herself to be brought up in the comfort of soft fabric shorts and a cami. Her clothes were normally those of animal fur so when she shifted she was completely able to return into a human that was fully clothed. Thankfully.

I don't really want to imagine shifting back to human without clothes. Especially when missions required small groups with little to no privacy for days at a time, it was a bit of a relief.

She yawned, the rain's song putting her to sleep. Like any cat Keller loved sleep. It was something that could chase away fears and she could be the ruler of her world, a world that would only exist for her and Galen, her soulmate and true love. Her dream would be of a night sky that would never end, only the sunrise and sunsets. Maybe there would be rain, the perfect one that would coat all the leaves and grass and decorate the budding flowers. It would play this melody. Galen and she could run through the jungles and forest; the trees, their beds, to hang from and bask in the moon's light. Thierry's mansion was nice and wonderful, but it felt like it should only be something to look like, never to touch. So now that she was in here in one of his many rooms it seemed as though sleep was eluding her. No matter how much her eyelids felt sleepy it didn't seem like she could.

The door clicked open and quietly. Keller let the smell filled her every sense of being, from her toes all the way up into the strands of her hair. It smelled of the forests that she loved and the grass that she would lose herself in by rolling through. Galen's arms wrapped around her middle, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" he asked

Her head fell onto his golden hair. "The rain."

"I didn't think you liked the rain."

Keller's hands trailed down his arms, her fingers entwining through his own. "I like the rain it's just the other stuff that comes with it."

"The other stuff—"

The thunder rolled then, the lightening partnered up with it. Keller felt her skin jump away, a feeling in the core of her stomach twist and knot together. In the lamest terms possible she jumped at the sound of thunder and dug her fingers into Galen's skin.

He chuckled, a cute smile on his face, "easy, easy, I'm right here"

Against wanting the warm of his skin on hers or the beat of his heart vibrating through her chest, she pulled away from him. He still smiled and that was why she loved him. Because he accepted the moments when she was torn between the human wants of herself and the animal that ranged within herself. The past that fought with the present and he took it all in stride.

Galen still loved her. He never stopped telling her either.

"You love the rain but not the thunder? Isn't that a bit..."

"Yeah I know, I know...the whole you can't have your cake and eat it too."

Galen sat on the edge of the bed waiting for an answer with a patience that no one else could have. The only problem was I didn't want to tell the whole story all over again.

"My mother loved the rain; she made games when I was little dedicated to the raindrops. I played with it the night that she left me in the box, but only alone at night hearing only the thunder...it wasn't my friend."

Keller felt his hand in hers, pulling her closer toward the bed, toward him. She fell back into the cushions, letting the overstuffed pillows envelope her head.

"A mighty panther afraid of the thunder?"

"You know I think I liked you better when you hadn't picked up sarcasm." She mumbled.

Of course that was a lie. She loved the way that this sweet person could have bite to him. It was another side of a Galen that made her feel as if she had a hand in this new character. Everybody loved him; there was no one that she'd met who had any real problems with him.

He hugged her to him, the animals inside each of them, one panther and one leopard, stirred with awareness of the other. The smells taking over the vibrancies of anything else, it was so intoxicating. "You can sleep," he breathed, "I'll stay right here."

Because he said it she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

She could smell her mother's perfume. The light hint of roses and rolled off her in waves now seemed plastered against her skin by the rain. She wanted to play in the rain, to stop and splash in the puddles and dance like she'd done so many times before.

But this time was different; she knew that when her mother stopped the car, they hadn't brought an umbrella with them, her mommy's heels clicked against the concrete of the ground. Some of the water, she could swear tasted like salt against her mother's cheeks.

The black of their outfit melted in together with the dark of the moon sky. No cars passed by theirs. No one could stop her, not even the child in this woman's arms.

There was a box under the pole of a picnic table, the rain sliding off the sides and barely splattering the cardboard box. Her mother leaned over it, pulling at the small child who clutched to her black dress. She didn't want to be put in the box. Her mother left her jacket, wrapped clumsily around the small frame. Cold shivering lips pressed against a damp forehead, "Raksha, someone will come for you. There are people out there who can keep you and watch out for you better than I can. I cannot do this right. Someday forgive me if you can."

Her mother's hand uncurled a folded up paper and placed it in the front coat pocket. Then she walked away, there was no good-bye, there was no I love you. Just a back that blended into the shadows.

Suddenly the child was scared, there was no one there; just an owl in the nearby trees and the pelt of the rain against the umbrella. Then the thunder started the one that vibrated through her chest, the animal inside her screaming and crying against the stranger's sounds. None of this was safe, it was in the open and dangerous. This wasn't safe. She needed the safety.

"Mommy! Mommy I'm cold! Mommy I wanna go home! Mommy...mommy...MOMMY!"

Yet no one responded. The thunder bellowed out again, erasing the next cries, she was alone. She huddled in the far corner of the box, afraid to move again. Her cheeks were wet, but not from the rain.

Then she felt it, the slight warmer skin that not braced her body, her ears twitching at every sound now. Her hands were no longer covered in smooth skin, but black fur that held way to nails that were long and sharp. There were the claws that she watched on TV, the ones that her mother never let her watch, where the animals hurt each other. Sometimes laying there even after the winner had walked away. She was a girl yet she had these things.

Where was mommy?

"Mommy! Mommy I'm sorry! Mommy please come back, I wanna go home! Mommy!"

The Thunder crashed above.

* * *

The Thunder crashed above, Keller's eyes flying open and she bolted up. Claws were extended, her teeth growing long.

"Keller! Keller!" Hands grabbed at her claws, pulling them wide. Galen knew how to keep both of them from getting hurt. "Keller! Keller, it's alright. It's alright."

His voice was stern and so soft she had no trouble leaning into them. Thankful that is was all gone, that it was all over. Yet she couldn't calm her heart beat or the ragged breath.

Galen's warm hands cupped her face, making her look up at him, at the most beautiful eyes in the entire world. He smiled, but it never reached into his eyes.

"You saw?" she asked.

The smile faltered, "Yeah I saw. And it was so painful to watch. You were so little." He pulled her towards him, his arms becoming a safety. She released herself to it.

"I'm so sorry that you had to see that. I'm so sorry."

His face was buried in her hair, "I couldn't move. I wanted to pick you up, I wanted to make that little girl feel safe and to stop crying. I wanted to do so many things to keep you from hurting like that. All I could do was watch."

This is why she loved him. This is why she opened herself fully into him because there he never questioned her past, only took it with him and helped her to support it so that it wouldn't suffocate her. He made her feel safe from the world and all its problems.

"I'm sorry you had to watch all that." She said

"I wish that you had never gone through that." Was all that he said.

It was still raining outside, the thunder rolling ahead and crashing through the clouds. It kept her awake and for that she was thankful. "I don't think I could sleep anymore."

Galen pulled away from her, looking into her face, "Yeah I don't think I could either. With all this noise."

"The thunder is a bit loud."

"I was talking about your snoring!" He laughed. Though the laughing was muffled, his face came in contact with a pillow and his vision blocked by the sight of raven hair and laughing resolving in his ears. What could be better than the person you truly love staying beside you? All while the rain continued its sweet melody.

* * *

It continued to rain, all the lights in the large mansion turned off, each concealing soulmates with warmth and their own loves. All except one window, one that had refused to turn off since the moment that its occupant first arrive, disheveled and his hair singed. He was so confused; confused about the world, the people, both human and nightworlders, but more than anything else about the blood that still pumped through his veins.

What was he? Why was this all about him? Blood that seemed to thicken and stir whenever he saw that one person that made me so confused, this was of course all her fault. Before he had known what was what, that the sun was bright and the night was dark. She had betrayed him, leaving him to die. Yet when she could have just left him there, to be engulfed by the flames like he wanted to, she didn't. Instead she saved him saying, "I promised someone."

Those words sent him reeling, remembers another woman, someone warm and bright. How he hated them both. The two that had disappeared from his life for so long and then come flooding back into his memory...his heart.

What was he supposed to feel? He had always been told what to do, how to think and what to do in any situation. There was no training for this though, there weren't any books about these emotions or the way to fix up old wounds. Why wasn't there someone to tell him who to hate, who to care for...who to love and trust?

Because he knew what the plans were, what the person he had called father had in store for the people around him. But now that he had come here, tired and scared, with friendly faces at every corner , he didn't know who to trust...or even what side to be on anymore.

Timmy didn't know.

But it was happening soon.

* * *

**Please R&R what you think! I really like to know! thanks**

**Keep reading,**

**~Trissica  
**


	6. Chapter 6

CH. 6

"Gate seven...gates seven...Why do airports have to be a maze?" Mary-Lynnette hissed.

Tickets had been grabbed, luggage was only one large suitcase and now here she was. And she was hopelessly lost in this place. It didn't help matters that she had never even flown in a plane before and her stubbornness refused to let her ask for directions to which gate she was supposed to head into. She followed the signs and even the only directions she got from the desk—person—and now she couldn't even find her way out of a paper bag.

I'm gonna miss my flight...just great.

"Ok, so we are looking for gate seven. I think—which direction do we go in?"

"I thought you said that you've flown before."

"Yes but I usually went with my brother."

"Well I don't think that is ever gonna happen again he can fly on his own pretty well now."

"Delos!"

Mary-Lynnette found two people next to her gazing up at the complicated map with a small only single star that said, "You are HERE!"

One was a tall guy with broad shoulders and a stern face. He looked somehow out of place. His clothes seemed almost too crisp and new as if he had literally just pulled off the tags; his hair was shaggy with that "New haircut" look to it. Yet his eyes, a wondrous shade of gray (If it is a different color please let me know. I don't have the books with me for reference) that seemed a little lost in all of this, like the crowds around him were too much. Yet he still carried an air with him, one that was almost—cocky. IT reminded her allot of a certain someone.

The girl next to him had a warm chocolate color to her air, bouncy and a beam of light seemed to fill her. Everything about her seemed to be warm, from the way she spoke all the way into her eyes, a strange color of sorrel. No matter how confused she was right now.

"Excuse me are you two looking for gate seven?"

The girl lit up, "Yes! Do you know where it is?"

An awkward smile, "No actually, but I'm looking for the gate myself. I've never been on a plane before so I thought you might have a better sense of direction then I do."

"She definitely doesn't" The boy next to her stated.

"Whatever. Then how about we get lost together? I'm Maggie and this is my –my boyfriend –Delos."

"I'm Mary-Lynnette." They all shook hands together, "Where are you guys heading?"

"Somewhere outside of Nevada, near Vegas, we are staying with some friends for a little while. You?"

"Small world, same with me, there is someone out there who is special to me. I'm following him, it's about time." She laughed. "He doesn't know, so I'm not sure if he's gonna be too thrilled about it though."

Maggie took Mare by the shoulder, "Well we can't stand around here if we don't get moving we're gonna miss our flight! That would be bad, we're meeting some people. From what I heard this guy—Ash I think—doesn't like airports all that much."

No way, it couldn't be, "Wait Maggie. Are you talking about—"

The girl jumped up and down, her finger pointing, "Haha we found it! Look and they aren't even loading up yet! You guys wait here and I'll just make sure that Delos and I have the right tickets." Maggie marched off with a look of triumph in her eyes.

"She always wins doesn't she?" Delos spoke quietly to himself and then turned toward Mary-Lynnette, "It's what I love about her."

"Delos the person that's picking you up, are you talking about Ash Redfern?"

Then something flashed in his eyes, wary he looked at her, flashing his eyes quickly toward Maggie, "What business is it of yours?"

"Well because Ash is—"

"Hey everything's square. What are you guys talking—"

"Ash Redfern is my soulmate."

* * *

Ash Redfern ground some unknown substance further into the sidewalk, the air filled with so much noise of greetings and good-byes, horns honking and always somewhere for hours on end there was a baby screaming shrilly while the parents could magically plug their ears from it. Why the hell was he here?

Since when did he become an official nightworld chauffer?

However this wasn't the usually pick up situation. Apparently there was a wild power on one of those planes. It also meant a lot of danger. Somewhere there was at least one of Lord Thierry's men stalking out a hallway or terminal. With only one wild power short it had everyone on edge to ensure that nothing happened to this one. Apparently another lord was coming in with his soulmate.

Nothing could stop the bitter thought of "Lucky Bastard" from biting into his thoughts. None of it had been her fault, Goddess...or God knows that he would never push her into something like this. Especially now when things were getting so dangerous out there and no one knew exactly when all the dominoes were going to start falling. Yet if everything was going to fall away and be left with nothing he wanted to be with her. Get the last look of her face, be consumed in the smell of her skin...and be a completely sappy romantic.

God he just loved to punish himself. Why? Answer: Because I suck at like.

The cell phone in his pocket rang out and ended with one bell. They were leaving the terminal and heading out to baggage claim, time to go to work.

This was the other thing that Ash hated about over stuffed crowded places, you couldn't think. If humans had a hard enough time thinking in places like these for a vampire it was a hundred times worse. His senses were all shot basically. It wasn't like those nights in all those clubs were people had pretty much similar emotions when they were surrounding by pounding music, it was also the music that many of them would get lost in. They were more or less superficial emotions that could easily be pushed away, ones that were sorted out without much hassle. But here and now these weren't so plastic. They were real emotions, some of fear, anticipation, excitement, and even sadness. They weren't ones that could easily be spilled into categories that he could push into the back of his mind. It was just frustrating. Strangely enough it became barley enough to b able to establish that connection, the one to identify other nightworlders.

Two shapeshifters jogged toward him, their walk primal and every ounce of them giving off a feeling of power. Keller and Galen made their way over to him. "Taking two cars, precaution of course because of Lord Thierry's orders; you take them with Quinn and Galen and I will take another car. Sound good?"

Ash shrugged he really didn't care for any of this, he wanted to just crawl into bed and let dreams of his own world take over. It would be quite there, he could think and...if he relaxed enough, to brush against the cord that tied him and Mare together. He'd be able to keep some form of her with him as much as he possibly could. I just want to get this over with.

"Don't forget you also have to pick up Rashel from a train station on the way back. It's on the way."

He grabbed the keys from Galen, noting that it was a small, little nothing Honda Civic. Great, there was absolutely no speed on it. "Fine just send them this way. All this noise is giving me a head ache. I'll meet them by the front." Ash didn't wait for an answer.

Keller rolled her eyes at the sullen form, "Jeez can he be any more dramatic?"

Galen only shrugged tugging his soulmate after him, "You gotta give him a break though. Hasn't seen his soulmate for over a year and when he can, it's only for a few days. Lord Thierry called him back before Ash could really have any time with her."

Keller bristled defensively, "Well Thierry doesn't have it easy, don't forget about Lady Hannah and—"

"Keller I know. But Thierry had time to learn to live with something like that. Ash hasn't been at that point yet. Let him be a bit selfish. Can you imagine if that was us?"

The girl shuddered inwardly; it wasn't something that she even wanted to consider. Galen was the calmer part of her. The only one that tamed that wild panther inside her, if he were gone she wasn't sure what would happen.

Galen kissed her temple. "That won't happen to us. But not all soulmates are as lucky as we are. Have a bit more patience for the guy." He pulled away, "Looks like they are already here...looks like they brought someone with them."

"What?" Her muscles already began to tense, ready to move, dance, attack at the slightest movement that didn't go well with her. Her senses took over now, hearing became more acute, practice able to shut out the unimportant sounds, eyes tightened and refocused everything becoming more detailed and exact showing the wild power, its soulmate, and another girl who seemed a bit out of sorts with everything. But it was the smell that caught her. Faintly familiar in everything else that was foreign about this stranger.

Keller opened her mouth slightly, letting the smells intensify along her tongue. She knew that smell; it was the same as that cocky vampire that always made her fur bristle in the wrong direction.

* * *

**Please R&R!Again I want to know what you guys think! I took come of the critics from last time, hopefully things have improved!  
**

**I am also wanting to do another story if you guys have any idea for other fanfics please let me know! **

**Keep Reading ~Triss  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

This was all happening so fast. Yet Mary-Lynnette loved it. One minute there she was being loaded on the plane filling in Delos and Maggie a bit about what had happened to them. Maggie even told a bit of her story, Delos was a wild power. She could see that too, alone with power that he carried inside him and the one that always seemed to cast a protective shadow over his soulmate.

She, Maggie, and Delos had already gotten off the plane when the two nightworlders came over at baggage claim. They were both shapeshifters and they were also soulmates. The girl, Keller, was powerful; anyone could see that by the stance she held and the strength that she seemed to command. Her mate was pleasantly the opposite, Galen seemed gentle and quiet, and having no problem with letting her take over the reins, but still there was something about those eyes. Those pools of amber that said that he too was lethal, all in all the couple seemed to be a dangerous combination.

Mare had even felt a slight pang of jealousy when Delos had pushed Maggie behind me, he had been calm and cool but with a predatory warning should anything arise. It reminded her of Ash.

But things calmed down they explained where they were from and what the situation was. Delos had relaxed enough to let Maggie break away from his grip and introduced herself. Mary-Lynnette couldn't help but feel is anything, a little out of place. But then the boy, Galen, looked over at her.

"Are you with Ash?"

She blinked hesitantly, "um..." How exactly could she answer this? She'd already spilled the beans once to complete strangers so...now?

"How would you know...?"

Galen interrupted an impatient Keller and calmly said, "His smell, the animals inside us give us their gifts. Our smell, hearing, and even sight are increased. We smelled him the moment that you walked into baggage claim."

He looked down at her bag amused, "I don't think that he was expecting you though."

Mary-Lynnette walked forward, tired of being so awkward, merely smiled and even gave a small laugh, "No actually, he isn't expecting me. But I think that its time I did some part in all of this. Whether I want it or not this is my world too."

Even Keller had to admit to herself there was something about this girl, whether it was because of her forward honesty or because it was one alpha female acknowledging another that she honestly liked. It isn't very often that someone holds themselves like that, especially when one of them is human meeting two nightworlders.

I like her. Keller decided and for some reason, it made her feel vaguely generous, "Galen I feel like going for a drive. What about you?"

She felt him touch her slightly at the back of her mind; you know what? I think I am falling for you all over again.

Keller swatted his arm, "Listen Casanova, I feel like a drive. You coming or not?"

She grabbed a bag from Maggie, "You and Delos are coming with me. Mary-Lynnette if you head through that door right there then you can get a ride back to Thierry's place."

Maggie hugged Mare, "It was great meeting you! Hope we can see more of each other later. See you later."

Delos waved following after his soulmate. And all there was left was Galen and her, standing there a bit shocked at how fast everything had moved.

"Keller likes you."

She looked up at him, "Me? She doesn't even know me."

He shrugged, "That's just how she is. First impression seems to be the only impression for her. Not many get a second chance."

Mary-Lynnette followed his gaze to Keller as she made her exit, even walking there was something about her that just made her seem...dangerous and beautiful. I'm nothing like that.

"Who are the lucky ones that get that second opinion?"

"Well you're talking to one right now." He smiled at a distant memory, "She thought of me as someone who was too gentle to do what's supposed to be done."

Aren't you? But she kept that tucked behind her lips, there was something about him that she didn't think she'd ever really know. At first glance, yes, he did seem a bit separated from everything, too gentle for a rashness of the world. But when she looked at those eyes, it was as if she was looking at someone completely different. She was learning that in the nightworld eyes could literally be the windows to the soul. So far from the ones she'd met they had shown power, strength, danger, and even for brief moments, as she saw with Ash, a complete and utter vulnerability to the world.

"Like Keller said, head through that door in the back and wait for a car to pull up. There should be a bench, but I hope that you won't have to wait that long. Take these car keys with you that is if you want to get to the mansion. You take care and I'm sure that we will see you around. Till then."

Then Mary-Lynnette was alone again. It wasn't a feeling that she liked all that well. But what else was there that she could do? The only thing I can do I suppose. She picked up her one suitcase and walked through that door.

"First I'm a chauffeur, and then I'm the decoy." Ash sighed leaning against his car, "Oh yeah I forgot, I have to add delivery boy to the list as well. My resume is just getting bigger and bigger."

Galen had called and quite pleasantly, which annoyed him to no end, told him the change in plans, they were taking everyone in their car, if he wanted to get home then he had to pick up the car keys by the employee's entrance.

His feet echoed in the large tunnel. Where they hell was he supposed to look for those keys? Did someone have them? Whatever the case he just wanted this to end so that he could get to bed, read or do something, anything, to keep his mind off of her.

Again there was that ache in his chest, the one that kept beating at him, there was so much more that he wanted to say to her, so much that he wanted to tell her. But each time had never seemed like that right moment or even the right time. And every time he didn't do it he wanted to kick himself for it. When would it ever be the right time? Ash didn't think that he would ever get the chance to say.

Lost in this thoughts and self loathing he almost missed it, that wondrous tug inside him, one that suddenly went taunt and hummed pleasantly. And at first he didn't believe that it was possible. But yet...this feeling, there was no other feeling like it in the world.

"It can't be." He quickened his pace.

"


	8. Chapter 8

Note:

(Elesary: Yeah it was cut off, I had gotten a new computer and it wouldn't let me transfer the whole thing for reasons beyond my understanding. But it let me put out this next chapter. )

(SORRY to all the READERS! It's my freshman year of college and I am still trying to get my barring all set. I'm on thanksgiving break. So please expect a few chapters to make up for the fact that I haven't written in so long! And please R&R! Cause without it I would never be able to keep writing, seriously without it I would have given it up a long time ago! Thank you for your patience!)

Chapter 8

If this was a dream, it was a rather cruel one. The fact that Mary-Lynnette standing there…it just hadn't made any sense, but here she was, standing there with him before the door to Thierry's mansion. She's never been out of her hometown before, he realized. She'd taken a plane and had the money for a taxi. Mare was doing this completely blind and it was all for him.

She also didn't know all the dangers that were walking around. I'll make sure that she stays safe, nothings going to happen to her. Ash would do anything to make sure that she could stay by his side.

Ash was lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the pair of eyes that were starring down at them, starring down at her with a vague sense of interest and loathing. The boy had smelled her the moment she had stepped onto the property. The small scent of grass and a hint of mint perfume, but he could only call her vermin. Just like al the others that walked around this mansion and the person he'd once called sister. It seemed that more and more of them were coming through those gates. If only Hunter Redfern could see him now, cowering in the shadows of enemy. Yet even if he wanted to do something the fear, that childish fear he could never seem to escape grappled at the logical side of him.

What was it about these creatures that could make the most superior beings on this earth fall down to their knees and renounce their heritage and power? He had remembered seeing Ash Redfern, a direct descendent of Hunter. The boy remembered how much of a power creature he had been, feared almost nearly as much as Quinn with the reputation of power among all nightworlders. Yet that girl, the one standing outside the main gate had changed this power hunter into a piece of prey for the remaining Redferns.

There isn't any fear in his eyes either, the boy noticed. Instead a new light shined in them, reminding him of that stupid girl who had unceremoniously saved him from that fire over 6 months ago.

He watched them head in through the gates, noting the two duffel bags carried between them. Perhaps, he thought, this could be the moment to truly get to know the facts about this disease. He would never studied Rashel even if her partner was Quinn. This was the second best choice. Ash Redfern and his "Soulmate"

"Let's see what vermin magic you use." He said.

As if his voice carried out over through the glass and with the wind, the girl looked up. Their eyes met and something in him flashed, those eyes were midnight blue. Such a rare color for vermin he thought. The creature offered him a small smile and made a small attempt at a wave.

Timmy threw the curtain forward, blocking that face and the magic he feared. "I'll figure out their secrets. Stupid vermin."

Who had that boy been? Mary-Lynnette stared up at the curtains the hid the boy from her. She'd been staring up the mansion in awe when she noticed his face staring down at her. There had been something about it, something that didn't seem quite right. He had the face of a child, but… those eyes, the seemed too old be belong to a child of any kind. He was part of the nightworld that she was certain about.

Beside her Ash twitched anxiously, the excitement rippling through his spine and the knowledge that she was standing there next to him, nervous as he was, but confident at the same time. How was she able to do that? Every minute, it seemed, she managed to still amaze her.

"You ready to come in and meet everyone? I'll warn you as soon as you walk in you'll be swarmed by people." He suddenly seemed interested in the garden with a small fountain of children playing in the water, "We don't get many people that come in."

"Are you sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm your soulmate?"

He winced inwardly; she always hits things on the nail. I would have a soulmate like that.

Ash shrugged her duffel bag over his shoulder failing at the attempt to ignore her small laugh. It was beautiful… and I am turning into mush. Yet if it was by Mare he truly didn't care. Love is just so confusing, he stated.

He opened the door, not waiting for one of the attendants to open the door and summon them inside. Mary-Lynnette was already uncomfortable and he felt that having herself be announced would just make everything a bit worse.

But the slam of the door didn't keep some from noticing and shortly after a wave of red hair peeked out from behind one of the doors and a bright smile. Ash was relieved, if there was any person that had to run into them he was glad out of all of them was the Lady.

She came over, a warm smile on her face and a flash of something he couldn't quite place in her eyes. He smiled back at her, "Mary-Lynnette this is the Lady Hannah, Lord Thierry's Soulmate."

Mare stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Hi." What else could she say… what was she supposed to say?

Hannah laughed, "No title Just Hannah, I've only had a title for the past few months. Please." She added the last part seeing the uncertainty flash through Mare's eyes. But she waved them off, "So this is your time in Las Vegas right? When you guys have the time definitely make Ash take your around and go sight seeing. There are some amazing breath sights. Out in the desert the stars are so bright out there, its perfect for stargazing!" Hannah gushed picturing passed moments of her own.

"Stargazing?"

Hannah blinked, "Isn't that what you always do? Ash bought a telescope when he first joined up with the order and—"

"Anyway, I wanted to get Mare all set up in the room. So we'll see you later?" Its not that he didn't like Hannah… or the fact that she was bringing up, well, sensitive stuff. He'd rather have her not know about all the people that know about her from his own mouth.

Lady Hannah smiled up at them both, "Definitely, I'll tell Thierry that you both are here now. So get settled in and you'll get a chance to meet everyone at dinner. See you later."

Mary-Lynnette watched the girl walk off. Even if she'd only been the title a short while ago, there was something about her, something that seemed older and wiser. Perhaps it was the way that she carried herself? Was she….?

"Is she an old soul?" She asked.

His gaze lingered on Hannah, "Yeah she is. She is probably one of the oldest souls there are. If you don't count the deaths then she's just as old as Lord Thierry."

"Deaths?"

Ash didn't quite meet her eyes at that moment, instead took the lead down of the many hallways. "Lord Thierry is also slaying a lot of his own dragons for his lady."

But what wasn't said between them hung in the air. And Mary-Lynnette, while following Ash, was starting to put the small pieces together. She remembered the night that they watched the stars in the bed of her truck, how he told about some of the other nightworlders that fought with circle daybreak. Hannah's story had stuck out the most.

Lord Thierry and Lady Hannah's story is just like ours. Except she chose to follow Thierry while I just pushed Ash away telling him to fix everything.

Right then the only thing that she could think about was how cruel she had been. Ash had taken it all in stride and wanted to prove himself. What had she been doing that whole time? I'd been filling my life with college applications and good grades. I've been anything but fair in this whole relationship. I've got a lot of work to do.

Ash stopped in front of one of the doors. The only thing that stood out from the others was the small gold plated number 15 above the door. This was more like a hotel then a mansion. "You ready?" he asked.

Mary-Lynnette nodded, "Yeah."

Ash opened the door, all Mare could do was gap at the sight. It was as if there was a small apartment complex inside a larger home. The room they walked into wasn't the bedroom—even though she was expecting that—and it just felt like Ash. The room was filled with neutral colors that made everything seem warm and it one corner was a small pile of books that seemed on the verge of falling over, a chart of the different stars held themselves over one wall where a small desk stood with a computer perched on top. A couch reminding her of the color of dark red whine sat in the center of the room, completing the look.

Mary-Lynnette could honestly see herself living in this place… in her own words, "Paradise."

"So you like it?" Ash stood back behind her in the doorway, trying to read how she'd been taking in the room. It was as if he was anxious to seek her approval.

"It's amazing! It's gigantic—what else can I say? It's—"

An arm came around her waist, warm breathe at that spot between her neck and shoulder, and a heart that beat against her own. "Perfect." He finished.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Mary-Lynnette woke late in the morning, the digital clock on the nightstand reading 10: 14. Sleep, what a wonderful concept. Her body stretched out lazily under the covers in a bed that she imagined clouds would feel like. She'd always been one of those people that refused to move out of a place where she felt unbelievably relaxed and ironically with eyes still closed already start her brain in motion.

It had already been a week…a blissful dreamlike week that just couldn't have been real. The whole time Ash had shown her around the mansion introducing her to the other people, she'd been amazed at how many of them were day walkers like herself. They were all here, banding together, to fight a prophecy of the four wild powers. In the first time in her life, Mare felt like she was part of something so much bigger than herself.

She had come to make a lot of friends as well. Many of the involved were still out doing recons and research. From what she heard from people around the mansion Ash's cousin… James, wasn't it? She heard that he was coming back today along with his soulmate Poppy North. That itself would be an interesting meeting.

It was finally the second round of stretches that got her out of the warm covers and crept into the next room. There enough was Ash, the tuffs of his hair peeking out from the arm of the couch. Mare remembered the first day, the back of her mind wondering over the fact that there was only one bed in the room. But Ash had done it in one swift motion, without asking or questions had picked up her bag and brought it to the back room and came back with sheets and a pillow for himself.

We had spent the next 20 minutes arguing after that….

The knight had one the battle and lady was sent to the bedroom. Though her bed of clouds made her feel guilty but bringing it up always issued out more fighting. That seems to be the only thing we excel at in this relationship. She sighed.

It was hard to believe that anyone could sleep longer then her, but here was the prime example. His head was buried in the pillow and the sheets were all but thrown off him, Ash was like a sleeping cat, the danger and power that he always carried seemed to melt away when he slept. The first time she saw him sleep she'd only been able to admire him, how little he changed through time. But now that she could see his face almost every morning…. She saw other things that she had once over looked. Like the color of his eyes when he first opened them, they seemed to match hers that were constant; they were stern and deep as if she were looking into a mirror of her eyes. Or the fact that he was even more stubborn of a sleeper then she was and crinkled his brow when she tried to wake him.

It was a side of Ash, of an Ash that wasn't part of the nightworld. After he went to sleep and before he opened his eyes again she could pretend that his wasn't a vampire and that all the problems didn't exist.

The bells and chimes of her cell phone brought her out of her drooling stupor enough to quickly head back into her room and grab her cell phone. Ash didn't stir and for a brief moment she felt the urge to chuck something at him, a pillow or a piece of brick.

At least until she saw what the ID read.

Mare groaned inwardly, it was the fourth time this week that he'd called her. Sooner or later she'd have to face it and answer that phone. Mark could only fend off their father for so long before something really bad happened… like taking a trip up to the college that she was supposed to be at right now. How was she going to explain any of this to him? What could she say that could possibly make him understand without having to mask everything off with lies?

I need to walk around, she decided. Something to just get my mind off of everything… the garden.

Out of everything at this mansion her most favorite place had been the gardens. A whole green room dedicated to endangered plants and ones that were from all over the world. That room was truly amazing, almost as amazing as the stars that she watched.

Lately the halls had been more quiet then usual, others have left, going the on to do some assignments for Thierry. I wonder when I will be called to help out? In a way she was kind of hoping that she would be of use to circle daybreak. That was why she was here after all, to be of some good and, of course to be with Ash.

"Ah well I see you wake up at a more reasonable hour then your counterpart." She turned finding a kind smile belonging to the figure at the door.

"Oh, um Good Morning." She smiled back.

Mary-Lynnette had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she had walked in without recognizing that someone else was in the sunroom that led out into the gardens. Lord Thierry smiled back at her, "How have you managed to get settled in? Everything to your liking?"

"Yes! It really is an amazing place you have. It's so beautiful, especially the gardens. Thank you for letting me stay here."

There was something about him, whether it was because of time or by the knowledge of watching for so many years, whatever it was there was this sense of age-old kindness about him. A friendly smile with eyes that seemed to grow more sincere the longer he is around these people that are working for this cause. When Mary-Lynnette first met him he had only shown her kindness and a warm welcome. He had even let Ash free of all assignments

The smile changed then, still kind and welcoming, but now there seemed to be some amusement to it. In a sense there was a different light to his eyes. "You really are a unique human. Ash was right, you truly are like Hannah."

What could she say to that? This man was a Lord and oldest vampire, giving her a compliment in the same honor of his soulmate. It didn't seem just. She could feel that her mouth was opening and closing like a fish begging for water.

Lord Thierry only laughed waving her worries away, "It's not a problem. You probably don't know about this but Ash would always talk about you. There was always something that reminded him of you or always question about if there were any assignments that were near where you lived. Needless to say your name is known by many of the circle daybreak members."

Mare blushed embarrassed. Lord Thierry shut the book then, "I'll be on my way now. I told Hannah that we would have lunch somewhere together. If I don't hurry then I won't be a lord anymore. "

They said their good-byes. Even it was for a brief moment, the conversation that she had with the man was pleasant. Lord Thierry, in general, was pleasant. With all this kindness he was trying to undo what the nightworld had done. Ash had told her that between a past life of Hannah and him had promised each other something. With the help of witches and the money that he had gathered over the many years had formed circle daybreak. Even through misdeeds had cursed him he had already made up for it.

…All while Hannah had, through lives and love, had staid by his side.

There was still a lot of thinking that she needed to do and needed to think about. That especially applied to Ash and everything that stood with him.

The gardens stood with its colors vibrant and beautiful against the greenhouse glass. And even though on another day she could let herself get lost in the wonder of it all, there were things that were bothering her. The biggest being the most important of them all; it was bothering her the most.

Have I ever told Ash that I loved him? Had he ever told me? It was obvious that they both loved each other, they were soulmates after all and those times that they shared together, their souls flowing in and out of each other, there was nothing like it. It was clear that she loved him; she would have done anything for him. He knew that…right?

But did I ever say out loud "I love you" to him?

It felt like gravity felt heavier than it ever had before as the facts came flooding back to her. She should say it, but when? When would be the perfect time…if any time? There weren't many places or times that she could say it; not for the first time at least.

She groaned, pressing the bottom of her palms into her eyes as if that could fix everything. She had never been in a relationship before; Ash had been her first kiss even, so how was she to know how to go about any of this.

I could ask one of the others around here… Hannah maybe? No, she was lady of the mansion anyway; there were too many things going on, things far more important than her love issues. So what should she do?

"I wonder if they have books on soulmate relationships that I could look into? Maybe there's a whole chapter on the Redferns."

"I highly doubt that there would be."

Mary-Lynnette looked up, her eyes stinging slightly from the shock of the sunlight. What she met wasn't quite what she was expecting. This boy in front of her, the same one that stared at her on the first day that she arrived on the steps of the mansion.

He stood over a far ways away, that look that felt like she was under a microscope. There it was again, that same feeling that there wasn't something quite right about this child. Those eyes were haunting and, in a sense, filled to where he was almost too young and too old as well. There was something about this child that was just wrong.

But she tried to smile…what should she say?

"You moved in here a week ago" He stated

"Um, yeah I did actually. I'm still trying to get use to everything. What about you? Have you been here long?"

"Why are you here?" He asked instead.

I don't quite like how he's talking to me, "Well because I want to help out with circle daybreak."

Then he smiled, a twisted smile that sent chills down her spine, "Your attempts are foolish."

Her brow furrowed, " Excuse me?"

"Why are you trying to attempt to 'fix' something that is inevitable? The fact that circle daybreak is made up of nightworlders and lesser beings proves that things aren't as stable as the empire that the nightworld has set up."

He stared back at her smug and confident in his analysis about the circle. What he said was true. She should know that the being she is would only make herself an easy target for the nightworld community. It's because of that fact that there is little to no chance that they could win against the superiority of the empire.

She blinked, "I would imagine, though, that is our strongest point."

"What?" he asked.

Even she was confused by what she was saying, but she had to think about what she was saying and choose her words carefully because this boy wasn't only a child, "I think that it means that you work harder to protect something else. I've watched many others around here and heard stories. You must have too because you've been living here at the mansion about the people that change through the people they meet. They change for the better. So they fight for their better halves, the people who are responsible for making them feel… Happy."

The boy didn't seem to understand, "Change?"

She sighed hoping that what she would say would make sense, "I changed when I met Ash. I was very closed off from people except for my family and I always had my heads in he clouds about what I wanted instead of being grounded and worrying about more then just me. I can't say what that change is for others…."

Mary-Lynnette looked over at the boy, the one with the raven hair and emerald eyes, "I'm sorry I'm not really making any sense here am I?"

"No you aren't." He sniffed. He turned on his heels and started to walk away.

"Hold it!"

The boy froze and looked back at her incredulously, "What?" he demanded.

Oh he is playing with fire, "You keep demanding all these answers out of me and your lucky because I don't answer people that demand things from me. So you get to answer a question I ask."

He looked at her warily, "So ask."

"I want an introduction. What's your name?"

For a moment he looked like he wasn't going to answer, the boy looked like he wanted to run away as fast as he possibly could.

"Timmy."

A smile, "I'm Mary-Lynnette. I'll see you around Timmy."

She watched him run off after that brief moment when all they could hear was the birds that had started to sing in the green house.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What were you planning on doing tonight?" That was the firs thing that Ash asked her the moment that she stepped back into the room.

Mary-Lynnette looked over at the bag that already had a pile of clothes stuffed into it. "Do I actually have a choice in the matter?"

Ash was already heading back in the walk in closet they shared rummaging through everything. "Of course you do. You can choose the place that we go tonight. What do you think about heading over to California for the week?"

"California? A week? Ash have you gone crazy? You can't leave for that long- WE can't leave for long! Why the heck do you need to leave?"

His ashy head poked out from the doorway, his eyes the color of storm clouds, "Cause I wanted to spend some alone time with you?"

Mare narrowed her eyes, "How sure were you about that line you just tried to pull?"

He groaned, "about 75% sure that you'd go for it." He came out of the closet and fell down onto the bed as if he were losing all the muscles in his body. "Why? Why did he have to come back over here of all times? Why now?"

Ash suddenly went from a confident vampire into a wounded animal. She couldn't help but smile at the drastic change when the realization hit her. Ash whipped his head around as Mare tried to stifle her laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"Out of everybody in the world, why are you stressing about only seeing your cousin?"

"Why does it have to be him? He can literally be gone for months at a time and I barely see him around this place, but the moment that you show up—the moment that you arrive here is when he has to come back and stick his nose in."

She sat on the sofa, letting it trap her in its softness, "I still don't see the problem here. Why does this have anything to do with me?"

Ash struggled for the words, what exactly could he tell her without her being disappointed in him… again? Whoever said that the truth would set a person free really didn't understand anything about reality. Sometimes with the truth it felt like he was digging himself a bigger hole. Many times over the passed year it only got him into harder situations that he had a harder time getting himself out of. This especially applied to Mary-Lynnette.

"It had happened before we met. Things were different…. My views….were different then."

She looked away sourly remembering the bits and pieces of the old Ash that she truly would have rather never known. And that surprised her. That bit of hatred, the only thing that had her look at Ash warily, the questions that still popped into her head late at night. How would he be now if they had never met? She still remembered what he called humans, what he called her. "Vermin" She said.

Ash cringed a bit, "Yeah… that. I did something stupid. Nothing serious—compared to what I'd done in the passed. But I still messed up. My cousin and I had never been that close and after what I did…."

He could see the worry in her eyes; out of everything he did in his past he would always regret it. If he could have gone back in time to do everything over he would do it in a heartbeat, not for the people who's lives he had changed or the way things would have turned out, but for the look she had when she heard about his past. Out of everything he would give anything and everything for her to never have a reason to give him that face. Mary-Lynnette was proud, a very proud person that would never admit it, maybe that's what made this whole thing worse. But the look she gave him, he had seen it so many times in other people and nightworlders. There was fear in her blue eyes, fear that he had placed inside her. For a brief flash when his past would surface up she would be afraid of him, his own soulmate afraid of him.

Ash wanted to take it all away. Cause the only thing that truth did for him was make the person he loved the most more and more afraid of him. That hurt worse than any pain he could have possibly imagined.

"What did you do?"

There it was, that small ring of fear. A terror of the unknown side he was trying so hard to destroy. Because of that, only because of the unknown fear did he tell her everything about that day. It was Ash's turn to be afraid of then, what would happen to them?

"It started when I was supposed to stay at my cousins house and walked in to find someone else walking in through the door."

Poppy

She couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. It was amazing what the rain could produce if someone just looked at it a bit more closely. It really wasn't anything unless you really looked at it. Whoever had sat in that bus seat had merely taken their hand against the fogged window and erased whatever doodle had been on there before. They didn't realize the creature that they had given birth to.

It reminded her of a lizard, and evil lizard with a single blood shot eye that stared down at her, as if it knew all of her secrets. Its jagged teeth could be seen from the evil mischievous grin that shown only for her.

Poppy North had the strong urge to take her hand and slay the beast, but that would mean getting up from the bus seat and walking across the isle to disturb a man who looked as if he had been traveling all day. So she was reduced to starring at it.

"What are you looking at?"

James Rasmussen stared down at her, an amused smile playing on his lips. It always amused him at the wild stuff that always seemed to pop up into that head of hers.

She sighed, pushing back against the backrest of the seat to stretch her small lithe body out. They'd been on the bus for the passed 4 hours and her mind was going crazy with energy. What she wouldn't give to jump out the window and start walking, running, jumping, or something! Anything to just get off this bus for at least a little while. Instead of saying all those things that were bursting inside of her she only said, "I need out!"

James laughed and even now after it had been over a year she couldn't help but let it send shivers down her spine. It was loud and soft all at the same time, infectious and could make even the most stone of face person smile easily. He was all hers.

She smiled herself loving the fact that she could say that, James was all hers. She couldn't help but sneak a peek at the girls who stared over at them enviously even picking up on thoughts about how lucky she was. They truly had no idea just now right they were.

He peered up over to the front of the bus, wrapping his ear buds together, "Well it's a good thing that our stop is coming up. I'll go get the bags you make sure that we have the tickets."

A few moments later, after their bags had been checked off and their tickets handed off they were out on the road hopping off for a taxi…. another mode of transportation. At this point Poppy would have been happy to walk the rest of the way back to Lord Thierry's mansion. But then they wouldn't get there until dark and even she didn't want to meet some of the people that roamed Las Vegas at night even if she was a vampire.

If it hadn't been for James she would have gone stir crazy sitting there for another half an hour before finally being able to get back and lay in her own bed. With him around keeping in mind focused on other things it was a lot easier to let the time fly by instead of sitting around with her checking the clock every three minutes. Her brain seemed to work faster then clocks did.

"You happy about going back?" she asked.

"Yeah, it will be nice to do everything from base instead of flying around everywhere for clues. Now we can be the ones to get up late in the day and eat eggs Benedict again."

Poppy shuddered, "Good because if I have to try shoving crocodile down my throat again to please some other family I am going to start losing my mind." Poppy was probably one of the few vampires that still insisted on having three square meals a day, even if it no longer held any nutritional value in it anymore.

I may be a vampire but that doesn't mean I have to get rid of all the humanly quirks about myself. I certainly am NOT giving up thanksgiving turkey and stuffing. Heck no!

"I wonder who's back at the base, last time we were there it didn't seem like there were many people around. It was like a haunted house or something like that! But the time before that there were so many people around it didn't seem like I would be able to think about much…. Hehe I kind of liked it like that though. It was fun and there was always someone to talk to."

James grumbled something then, something that no other person would be able to hear. Even Poppy, with her heightened senses of hearing wasn't able to. But she didn't need to know what his words were to know what he was thinking about.

She touched his arm lightly hoping to bring him back to now. "Hey, I thought you were fine now. It's been over a year. You and I both know how much has changed since then, how much he's changed. He's not the same person he was."

James couldn't meet her eyes even with his half-hearted smile. "I know, it's just that… every time I see him I just can't help but think about that time. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he had gone through with that plan of his."

"He was never going to turn me in." Poppy pointed out, "That wasn't his style anyway. You of all people should know that."

"No, but it was his sick and twisted game that he loved to play. It was like a cat playing with a mouse right before the kill." He grimaced, "Neither one of us actually knows what he was planning on doing with you that night. And even though I know it would only make me want to do the cliché of stalking him with a piece of wood there's something in me that wants to find out what he was thinking then."

Poppy sighed as they pulled into the driveway of the mansion and unfortunately couldn't enjoy the driver's reaction to such an estate, she looked up at the windows knowing full well what window that led into Ash Redferns room as well as the fact that would avoid while the other one stalked and searched for him. This was all another version of the cat and mouse game.

But….

"I don't even think Ash Redfern even knows anymore though." Sadly though she didn't think that Jamie had heard her.

The mansion really hadn't changed that much, in fact it seemed to have frozen in time to the way everything was. Poppy was looking forward to being here for while, without the worry of traveling or being caught by other nightworlders. It had been a while since she had been able to stop and rest for more then a day, here she felt completely safe. That she could let herself go and just sink into this seemingly calm world.

Why couldn't see delude herself for a little bit? Poppy bounced through the doorway, her bags bumping against her hip in a rhythm to a tune she was making up in her head. A spin off of her "I'm sexy pixie" single that never made it farther then her kitchen back in her hometown.

"We need to report to Thierry yet?" She asked

James shook his head, "Can't anyway, I got a text from my cell phone from Lady Hannah. She's apparently kidnapped Thierry for the afternoon and refuses to let him do anything other than have fun."

She tried to hard to hold back the laughing, "Thierry, Lord Thierry having fun? I can't imagine it."

James shrugged failing at holding back a smile himself.

They both rounded a corner, the hallways becoming more and more familiar as they made their way back to their room…. Room…. She giggled to herself; she now shared a room with Jamie, her best friend, her soulmate. The idea of it would have sent her mother and brother reeling. For brief moments like this she could pretend that she was considered still breaking the rules the golden boy rule to be more exact.

Things had gotten so—

A door flew open; one end slamming against the wall with a loud bang and someone with dark hair flew out of the room. "You are the most infuriating person!"

The scariest part was who ever this girl wasn't even yelling when she said it. It reminded Poppy of her mother…. way too much. Very few had the gift of inflicting as much fear into a person without raising their voice. The girl in front of them was one of the chosen to wield this scary power.

The mask of anger didn't let her focus on anything else; she wasn't aware of her surroundings or of the people that now stood in the hallway watching as the scene unfolded. What should have been a storming exit only ending up in a collision between her and James.

The girl flew into him only James didn't move, a stock built vampire against a small human wouldn't move. It didn't seem like he even registered what had happened until the girl and already collided with him and fell back giving a yelp of surprise.

"Ah jeez! I'm sorry, you alright?" Jamie bent, offering a hand out to her.

The shook her head, a blush of red crossing across her face, "No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Sorry about that." She climbed back up without taking James' hand and brushed herself off.

"Don't worry about it, just think of it as another way of introducing ourselves to each other. Should I start first?" Poppy asked.

"Wait! Come on, just listen to me for a moment would you?" The voice was too familiar, to loud, and definitely something that no one wanted to hear at the moment. "Please listen to me before you start making decisions on your—"

Ashe Redfern stopped dead in his tracks the moment his eyes fell onto the two people that he would have rather never seen again.

Well isn't this a wonderful welcome, Poppy thought. The next one though was directed at Jamie, and you better not start anything. You understand me? It looks like we kind of jumped into something here.

Mary-Lynnette

She saw Ash's face drain then, if it was even any more possible for a vampire to grow paler he had certainly found a way.

"Why now? Why right now did you two have to show up?"

The young man snorted, his mousy brown hair falling over into his eyes, "This isn't exactly the welcome that we were planning on having either."

It was strange to see Ash this way, looking so uncomfortable, she'd only seen him look this way once or twice before, that had been when they had first met. The way that the soulmate principal had actually started to change him, how the thought and acted.

He once looked at me like that…

"Shouldn't you treat family better?" Ash mumbled.

Then it was like the whole world changed. Something heavier, angrier; Ash had stepped on something and had gone too far.

"Look at the Pot calling the kettle black." The phrase itself wasn't anything threatening. But that tone, it was bordering and warning not to press to far into things that shouldn't be touched.

Even though she was mad at him and even though she knew by now who they were and the connection they had with Ash, she was afraid for him. Yes what Ash had done had been anything from right—wrong beyond simply stealing or petty. It was a threat against many things—But Ash wasn't that anymore. He was changing, whether he would admit it to himself or even her, he was still changing.

And she was afraid for him.

"Alright, enough with the drama. I swear you could make this into a vampire soap opera and it would be a killer! Now enough!" A pixie with fire copper hair smacked the stranger hard in the chest with her hand with a smile that played dangerously on her lips.

"Since no one else will start I guess I will," she offered her hand toward Mary-Lynnette, "I'm Poppy North and the brooding boy over there is James Rasmussen."

Mare took the girl's hand surprised at how strong she was for such a small person, "Nice to meet you. I'm—"

"Mary-Lynnette. I know, you're the one everybody around here has been most curious to meet! I mean your soulmates with Ash! NOT that it's a bad thing or anything, its just that if you knew him before, like Jamie and I did well then you, like everyone else would be really shocked at the change! Seriously—"

"Poppy please!" Ash pleaded, actually pleaded with her, "I'm begging you with as much kindness I can muster. Please shut up!"

The next sound that came out of Poppy's mouth reminded Mary-Lynnette of an elephant that was having a hard time blowing its horn. The pixie had to turn away in order to try and regain her composure. It wasn't working that entirely well for the poor girl though. But somehow managed to regain enough to face them again, a smile still peering out from her lips, "Imagine the great Ash Redfern begging for a favor."

The smile that the boy next to her placed on his face was anything but kind, "Yeah, imagine that." But when he turned toward her, the pixie named Poppy, that smile changed into something that was warm and kind. The brief moment that Mary-Lynnette had truly disliked him went away in that instant.

But still there was no reason that she shouldn't be wary of him. But at the same time could she blame him for the past about what Ash had done. This whole situation was beyond confusing.

I have to make this work somehow. Not only to make this work but to somehow defuse the whole situation that had began to grow and spread. How—

"Got you covered. Did you either of you guys eat anything yet?" Poppy quipped.

The stares of stones melted away into a bustle of confusion. But the girl took them all in stride and tugged at James' sleeve, forcing him too follow. "You guys I ordered pizza on the way back here and the guy is getting nervous standing at the front steps. We should probably get there before he decides to leave with our food!"

Mary-Lynnette looked up at Ash in surprise. Pizza…. "Do vampires eat Pizza?"

Ash shrugged, "Not particularly, but Poppy does. She tends to stick with human traditions more then anyone like her."

"You mean vampires?"

"Kind of, I mean turned vampires. Poppy had been human up until last year. James turned her."

Out of all the large rooms in the house they had picked one of the smaller ones, a small cozy little roomed filled with two couches and a small bookcase in the corner, the look was completed with a small fireplace that Poppy had insisted on starting.

The smoke was just starting to clear when they finally sat down to enjoy the cooled Pizza. James and Poppy each grabbed a slice as well as Mary-Lynnette. Ash was the only one that didn't and resolved to sit by the couch that Mary-Lynnette had claimed as her own, sprawling out, her legs lounging over the chair thankful that her toes didn't have to curl under themselves in the cushions. He leaned against close so that his scent had become slightly overpowering, a wonderful cedary scent filling around her.

The chats were small and quiet, the tension of only moments before rolling off in waves whenever those two would catch each others eyes by accident. But then again, the way that they would meet each others it never truly seemed like an accident more like they were thinking about one another at the exact moment before they feels eyes staring at them.

Mary-Lynnette liked Poppy even more as the night went on, each time a situation started to rise it seemed that she could miraculously defuse the situation before anything got too out of hand. I kind of wish that I had that sort of power, something that could stop all of the problems before they even surfaced.

Whether it was because of Poppy being so persistent or because James could no longer stand to be around Ash for too much longer they left for the night, Poppy saying that she would stop by sooner or later for some "Girl chat" as she liked to call it. But Mare thought that there was something more then just talking about boys and make-up on this list of things that they needed to talk about.

A few things that I wanted to talk to her about as well, she thought.

As soon as they left Ash let out a long breath like he had been holding it in the whole time that they had been here. "Finally I thought that they would never leave."

But even though they were gone there was still this tension about him, a feeling of unease about everything that had just happened. Mary-Lynnette had heard the story and things had just ended up more confusing then things had already started out in. Back when they had first met she had seen inside his mind, his heart and soul and found things that had truly bothered her. Things about his past that Ash was ashamed of now. She had realized that all those thoughts and emotions she never knew exactly what those horrible things were.

I'm afraid of my soulmate. The thoughts jumped out at her and a wave of guilt swept over her. She loved him, there were no doubts about that but could the love she felt overcome the fear that had settled inside of her?

While Mary-Lynnette sat brooding over her own thoughts Ash was having troubles of his own. More so for the fact that he could practically feel the emotions that were rolling off her, he could help wondering what was it that was bothering her so much. Had it been the fact that the people he had wronged in the past had literally shown up at the door only moments after he had told her the truth?

Or worse, was it because of him?


	11. Chapter 11

**(Hey there! Before you start reading this chapter I just wanted to let you know that I've started a small short story that it tied into the nightworld. Anyone remember Nala? The girl that was haunted by her sister's death and had, at one point, tied herself with nightworld hunters such as Rashel the Cat. The story is called "The Rain is like a Lullaby" Check it out and let me know what you think.)**

Chapter 11

That story had scared her, the one where Ash had seen Poppy as a sort of toy one where revenge against his cousin was almost assured. Who was that person? He couldn't be the same person that Ash was now….right?

She sat there and listened to it all and when it was over she wasn't sure how to handle it all. Ash had stood there waiting for a reaction and didn't get any. Mary-Lynnette didn't know what was running through his mind.

"That's why we are leaving." He'd said. "I'm don't want to have to see those two. Not until things are different."

"Why don't you try talking to them? Apologize and show them that you're different." But her words sounded hollow. Could she follow that if she were in his shoes?

"This isn't a Hallmark movie. They aren't going to listen to that." He snapped.

"Why don't you just—"

"What? Try? Get your head out of the clouds for two minutes please! This isn't like back in Hicksville, this is the real world where things aren't so easy to fix!" Ash shouted.

It had hurt, those words, but she wouldn't let on. That was one fault with both of them that seemed to clash all the time. Both were very prideful and both didn't want to lose this battle, this war between them. Why? She would never be able to tell, but right then her pain had fueled something in her.

But she didn't want to be here for him to see that her face was turning red and her eyes that were getting heavy. She had moved toward the door, flinging it open in the process, "Fine! Well the hick won't give you any more help. Seriously Ash you are the most infuriating person!"

It was only because Poppy and James had walked into them that the fight ended. And even though when Ash was seeking comfort from her when his world seemed to be tightening a noose around him both of them were still sore around each other. They had both said hurtful things to one another.

That was another fault about them; both of them really weren't good at saying sorry either.

Thinking, that was all that she wanted right now. Mary-Lynnette only wanted to think about everything. Too much had happened and it was just too fast. With the new people that came it just seemed to bring about its own set of weapons to the battle.

The garden was the only place that she could find solitude for the moment. Ash had gone to talk to Lord Thierry now that he and Lady Hannah had returned from their time together. Since that had happened the world of reality had come crashing down on them all. So Mary-Lynnette had retreated to a place where she hoped that she could sort through some of the many things that she really had no hope of fixing.

The biggest and most important was of Ash. Today it had clicked with a horrible truth: no matter how much she loved him and wanted to be with him could it overcome the fear of his past? Would she be able to completely trust him the way that he trusted her?

How much of me does he really know himself? There wasn't much to tell, but the fact that he was so opened to her about the things that he had done, to prove him to her, what had she offered him?

The first time I turned him away to atone of his faults and the second time I have this built in fear about what he had done.

But he is not the same person he had been when you met him. That's what she kept telling herself, but when the past seemed to be biting him in the ass, her doubts were starting to bubble up more and more.

"Why are you here?" It's the same voice that had started to grate against her nerves the last time they had met, the one who seemed so sure of himself but the moment his thoughts were questioned was unsure and confused.

Timmy stood there; again the way he looked didn't quite match his face or even the clothes that he had one at the moment. The boy had been reduced to a simple tee and a pair of jeans. She really didn't want to deal with him at the moment.

"I'm thinking." She answered, but the usual sharp of her tongue wasn't there. Whether it was because he was a child or because she was just too tired she didn't really know.

"You're a strange creature. You know that right?" He said and cautiously moved closer to her, "Most of the idiots that walk around here and never really leave anywhere without-what do you call them? —'Your soulmates'. They are always walking around drooling over one another and holding hands."

Timmy was waiting for an answer that he wasn't going to get no matter how stubborn the kid was.

"Guess I'm different."

"Your strange. You're not like the other idiots around here. You fight with him. A LOT"

It just confirms everything; we are not the best example of what soulmates should be like at all. "Well I've never been one to follow what the rest of the crowd was doing."

At the moment she really didn't feel like talking, but the boy wouldn't let up. He was filled with questions and the only person he was set on to answer his questions was Mary-Lynnette.

Why was that? "Why are you asking me all of this? You keep insulting me yet you want all these questions you have answered. I'm not sure if I even have the answers that you're looking for."

Timmy stood in front of her, hangs on his hips in that way that made him seem superior to her, she hated that look, " That's why. You are different from the other idiots that walk through here thinking that they can save a world that doesn't need saving. They completely lose sight of reality and think that as long as their world is ok then the rest of the world will be ok in the end."

Was he right? Were Ash and I in the right because we didn't see the world in rainbows and butterflies? But did the other soulmates see the world that way? Mary-Lynnette had never even talked to any of the other circle daybreak members about how they felt or what went on with their soulmates. But did they see the world that way?

But then… that time… "Maybe that isn't true." She said

"What?"

Mare's brow furrowed remembering that time on the hill, "When I had first met Ash the only thing that we could was fight and argue. But there was this connection, this feeling that we found what we were looking for. Ash and I both fought against it."

She remembered his saying that he was hopelessly and desperately in love with her. She didn't wait for Timmy to say something and continued on, but now it seemed like it was more for her own sake then for answering the child, "There was this time on the hill when I knew that I wanted to be with him and for that moment…."

"For that moment what? " Timmy now sat on the ground before her, his face studying her as if she were a teacher. He was curious with anger that was still flashing from before.

She gave Timmy the satisfaction; "I wanted to be turned into a vampire for that moment. To be fierce and indestructible and to be able to see the stars without the help of a telescope, I love the night and had really truly wanted to be apart of it. So I asked Ash to turn me. We started the process and that was when I don't really know. Our minds somehow connected. Ash had never had that happen to him before and I know that nothing like that had ever happened to me. I knew that we had something that no one else had; not even my parents who loved each other had what I had—have."

She stared up at Timmy awkwardly knowing that he probably wasn't really understanding any of this. "I noticed a lot of the things that he had done, many of them were wrong. He was covered in thorns with each of the deeds he had done before he had met me. Now I know that I had sent him away not only because I wanted him to atone of the things that he had done, but also because…. Because I was afraid of him."

The words were choked down because as she was talking, without censorship or over thinking things Mary-Lynnette was finding out the truth about herself, " I am probably the only one in this whole world who has found the one person that completes them and I'm afraid of him. Your right I'm strange because I'm afraid of the one person that I love most in this world."

* * *

Timmy watched this stranger trying to hold back tears, spilling out the truth and breaking down in the process. "Why are you telling me all this?"

The girl was trying to regain her composure, keeping herself from letting too many tears slide down her face. "I don't know myself. Maybe because you are the only other one that was questioning everything about this world soulmate principal or maybe its because you don't have one right now. You aren't connected with anyone and see things from a different view. At least I think that's why."

Would I act differently if I had a soulmate? Timmy immediately erased that thought from his mind. That principal was a foolish motion that wasn't possible. IT was a spell or something that even Hunter Redfern knew nothing about and he was one of the oldest vampires that existed. Surely in all of those years he would know if there was any real thing as a soulmate.

"Ugh, I can't believe what I just did. I really need to pull myself together." And just by her words Timmy watch a girl that was breaking into pieces pick herself up and fit them back together like a puzzle piece.

Mare got up, brushing off dirt fro her jeans and looked over back at the mansion. "I got to thank you. Maybe its your superior attitude or because you're a kid but… well… I don't think that I would have come up with all of this and know what to do."

What had happened to the girl that had started to break down only a few minutes ago Timmy wasn't sure about? Immediately there was this new fire in her eyes against the tears that were already being forgotten. How can she change personality so quickly?

Perhaps it was her own power? That power that humans had throughout history he' read through books in Hunter's library. It was a strange power that made them do extraordinary things when the odds are against them. Hunter had always said that those humans had stolen something from a nightworlder. But this seemed to come from herself…. how was that?

"Thanks Timmy. I'll see you around ok?"

* * *

Something would happen that day that would change everything for them. Neither would know that they were both tied together in the events that were about to happen.


	12. Chapter 12

(**Please R&R!** Also check out **The Rain is like a Lullaby**, a short story about the night world. Though it doesn't tie into this at all really)

Chapter 12

"I don't think that this is really such a good idea." Rashel voiced her opinions for the hundredth time it seemed. Yet Dr. Gunderson wasn't paying her much attention.

"Why not bring him back to a place that has a public views with kids his own age?" he voiced.

"But he's not a kid—not really anyway. He's been that age for over 12 years! (I don't have the book next to me as a reference. Sorry) I don't think he would remember how to interact with these kids let alone want to be around them."

Dr. Gunderson had brought up the notion to Rashel and Quinn a few days ago; at the time Rashel agreed…. but now? Now it just seemed that this hadn't been a smart idea. Timmy's views on humans were still on the border of vermin infested.

They stayed far back from the park ground leaning on the borders of the grass; Gunderson had let Timmy go off on his own on a bright sunny day. "This was his need to feel will be restricted by the amount of people and the sun."

Rashel leaned against the picnic bench, her boot tapping endlessly against the graveled ground. Why was this eating at her?

A warm hand cupped her, a thumb moving back and forth over the back of her hand. Quinn gently tugged at her, forcing Rashel to look over at him. "You can't shadow him forever." He said.

Like always Quinn hit it on the spot and it was killing her more. She quietly looked over toward Gunderson who was busy reading a book he'd had tucked away in the folds of his jacket. She met Quinn's gaze again, "I just found him again John. He's my brother. Why can't I fix this?"

Quinn pulled her closer forcing her to sit on the bench with him and folded her up in his arms as if protecting her from everything that could and would cause her pain. Only he was allowed to see how fragile she could be and he was the only one that was able to let her walk along that glass road without her feeling like everything would shatter into a million pieces.

"He's been with them too long. When your lost in that darkness for so long you loose sight of that light and even forget what it looks like. Sometimes when you find it you can't even recognize it." His hand came up, warm and sure, pushing away the curtain of her raven hair to look at the emeralds of her eyes. "You push away a lot of that darkness and proved to me that there was a light, maybe you can be the same for Timmy and maybe you can't, but you need to try everything."

"But if it doesn't work—"

"Then we will keep trying. Rashel you don't have to do this alone. I'm not going to let you. We will do everything we can for Timmy, I promise."

Rashel smiled up at him, "I love you." She whispered.

Quinn rewarded her with a smile that made her heart skip a beat and make it hard to breathe. She was the only one that ever saw that smile of his. He kissed her, the only way that he could to show just how much she meant to him.

As their souls rose above them in the park, to embrace one another, Rashel heard it small and sure, creeping up in her heart and mind like a whisper in the wind.

I love you

(It's very short I know. But the next chapter is going to be longer. A lot longer I promise!

This is all leading up and I give you a **TEASER**! The upcoming episodes will start getting very very JUICY!)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Timmy pulled back into the brush, nerved by what he had seen. It was strange to see the girl before and remembered the child that he had been before. That she had been before. He remembered that day.

When they had gone to the amusement park… the water that was splashing, the kids that were running around them, screaming with joy. His own voice had once been part of them. He had so wanted to be as strong and as big as Rashel, he wanted to be able to keep up with her.

He remembered how unfair it had been, how much he wanted to climb up with her, but he couldn't he was never strong enough or fast enough to keep up with her.

And then Hunter had come along. Offering something, a salvation from weakness, the fact that his lungs weren't as strong and his muscles that couldn't seem to catch up with his own sister. Hunter had given him a chance to get away form all the weakness and be strong, stronger than Rashel and the kids that had picked on him at school.

That had been Hunter Redfern's charity for him, a change for redemption. Right?

Lately after seeing so much he wasn't so sure anymore. But what else was there to do? After Hunter had shown him so much, a taste of power that wasn't bound by freedoms that were chained by limitations and other's laws. There was no other feeling like that, to be part of the nightworld, even with his body and own limitations he was stronger then even the strongest of the men that walk around in the sun and sleep at night.

Hunter had seemed to do this out of kindness, but was that really that? Now he was beginning to doubt that. After all, where was he now? Why hadn't he come for him? After all Hunter had made himself Timmy's father. Even with his human mother, Timmy never had a father, and that woman had never talked about the man that had given birth to him, so Hunter had become the parent he had never had. It had been wonderful.

So where was he?

The children that ran around the grass screaming their heads off showed no amusement for him. That stupid werewolf had no idea what he was thinking. If only the sun wasn't at its highest, then he would have shown them what happens when you mess with a son of the Redferns.

He would prove what a son of the Redfern's should act, not like that character that walked around with a cocky attitude pretending that he was still important. He had no right to carry the name of Redfern. Yet there he stood with no other prerogative except to do as he pleased and to fawn over that silly human.

That silly human…. She was something else that he cold never understand, what he could never understand about the fact that she could seem to be so weak and fragile until her voice came out and it was if there was something like a iron strength that would empower those around her… if that even made any sense.

"Confusing humans." He muttered

"They are a bit of a nuisance, after all vermin have no other existence except to squander around our feet and live off of others." The voice was cold and cruel and so familiar.

Her hair was pin straight and gleamed like the razors that smiled out from cruel face. He had never known her real name, not even Hunter was privileged to know her name. A friend of Maya herself, the first Vampire, and the second made vampire in history; the only name that anyone in the nightworld knew her by was Belladonna. A plant that if eaten or drank would poison the consumer in a slow and painful death in sleep.

Even with the small amount of fear that was clutching at his unbeating heart he kept his face calm and impassive just like Hunter had taught him. And yet there was a stirring inside him. Surely now… "Have you come to get me? I've been held here against my will for almost a year now!"

The young girl nodded her head, "Yes. Hunter now has been able to send off people to come and get you. I don't think that you realize the position that you're in. After all you are in the strong hold of circle daybreak and Thierry." She said the Lord's name with such a bitterness that it was if ice was literally forming around them.

"You would be great asset to Hunter Redfern if you could help us with that then you shall be place in higher authorities then you already are. You may have the appearance of a small boy still, but Hunter thinks that you might be able to start handling things on your own. He dos not blame you for trying to make your escape, in fact he applauds you for sticking it out in enemy territory, others would have begged for us to save them or have tried to escape." Timmy wasn't sure if Belladonna was congratulating him or mocking him.

But it didn't matter Hunter had remembered him and he thought that Timmy was a valuable, important, to him. This was his chance to prove that he could handle everything that the Redfern clan could and would assign him. It was his turn to be relied upon. All the doubts of Hunter drained away at that moment and filled with guilt and a sense of pride of the strongest vampire.

"Now before that traitor and his toy come to find you with at mongrel pay close attention to what I have to say. Hunter has given me full range to do with, as I will with all of these humans that are destroying the balance of the nightworld. Frankly this is going to be amusing for me. Now tell me as much as you can about the plans of this mansion." She tossed the boy a cell phone. "Now your going to help me decide on the first victim preferably one of first and closest traitors to the Redfern family. Hunter would rather there be one that sends a message to the rest of the traitors. Do you have any idea who goes first?"

**(Please R&R to let me know what you think! If you want to see something happen I will take it into consideration. Perhaps you want a small piece of your favorite nightworld couple? Or a scenario to happen.)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"So how long are you going for?" Mary-Lynnette sat on the small couch in front of the bed watching as Ash rummaged though the rows of clothes looking for something for the night. She tried her best not to let on how much she would rather this didn't happen.

She couldn't see from beyond the doorway the pained look on his face, "till 2 or 3 in the morning. These things that Thierry wants me to do include bar and club hoping. Any earlier then that wouldn't be normal."

"Normal for you?" The words came out of her mouth before he could monitor the impact they could have. She couldn't see his wince

"The old me. I never ended the night before the early hours of the day, it was the border of when some humans would start to rise and their world began to start again. I have to play my old instrument so that no suspects anything of me." He held up a satin midnight blue shirt against himself, checking in the walk-in's closest mirror.

Mary-Lynnette bit into her lip until she could feel the break of layers of skin, holding back before blood began to well up. Was there a point to this? Was there even a point of arguing the case? She wanted to say yes, but…. Well what could she do? Just by his face she could see that he didn't want to go….

I want him to fight it, say something against all of this. But then that was just being selfish, if there was ever a time to be that way, this wasn't the time. She couldn't help, though, the feelings that pushing through.

She walked forward to the doorway of the closet and watch him flick through the rest of the clothes, the multiple colors and layers of shirts, muttering to himself about each and every one of them. At the moment he had white jeans that hung loosely against his hips and a sea foam green button down shirt….

"What are you wearing?" she eyed the clothing with distain.

"Please, I know, I don't need another opinion of what I should wear to a club that I've—" he stopped a moment, "I'm not good at this anymore."

Mary-Lynnette sighed, pushing further into the closet and grazed her fingers over the multiple hangers and finally selected something. "Here try this on…. and put this on with it." She handed him a maroon button down that had intricate black swirls and patterns along the left bottom of the shirt along with fashionable jeans and dress shoes. "Keep the black tank you have on now and leave a few of the buttons open." The words had come out stiff and uncomfortable, it had left Ash confused with a look that he couldn't quite place.

It had happened so fast and before he could say anything to her, she left saying only, "Be back before 2 in the morning."

And it was left at that.

For two weeks this was the routine, Ash left in around 11 and wouldn't return till the late hours of the early morning. He had never found her once still awake, but always trying to fight it. Mary-Lynnette, always with a book in hand, and a fire that had long since died would be waiting for him, there was never a smile, just this look of worry and concern etched in her face even in sleep. It was all because of him.

Like every night he would pick her up, with such little effort that she never woke up, and placed her gently in bed. Ash would take his position on the couch and fall asleep. Mare would already be gone doing something around the mansion by the time that he would open his own eyes to face what little of the day was left for him.

They barely spoke to one another, Ash, embarrassed and guilty, had begun to avoid her because of the disappointed he painted on her face. Mary-Lynnette ashamed of her actions and selfishness avoided Ash when he was awake; she knew that guilt that she was placing on him. Avoiding each other only proved how much had yet to understand about each other.

Each night as Ash walked through that door and with each step he was afraid that one night he would no longer find Mare there, waiting for him, asleep on the couch with another half read book laying per cautiously on her lap.

"I'm not getting anything new that we haven't already learned from other positions out there. Either they've caught on to me or there is nothing new taking place at the moment."

Everything he did was getting him nowhere. Nothing he did or said proved that there were any new facts. If anything it seemed like they were being pushed further and further away. After all that he had done to make sure that they were working things out and just starting to understand one another, barely scratching the surface of what so many others around them had already dove into and embraced.

The clubs were driving them apart and it scared him.

Lord Thierry looked over the twelfth report that Ash had written out and he was true to his word, even Thierry could see that. Nothing had really changed in their progress.

"There aren't any more leads to the new blood slaves that has been spreading around the nightworld?" Even Thierry sounded tired and doubtful, but not for the same reasons.

Ash leaned back further in the chair, letting the wood press against his flesh in hopes of feeling something other then defeat. "Nothing new but the same old rumors of the base. None of them make sense and none of them tie into one another. Whoever started it, if there actually is one, is making damn well sure to leak out information so that we can't pinpoint them. I can't keep hopping clubs and asking the same questions, I'm already pushing my lucky with the rats that leak everything to me."

The vampire rubbed his temples, "No, I suppose not. But I ask that you still continue to head back out to the clubs and try to get any information you can on anything. At this point, without the fourth wildpower, neither side can make a move or a stand. We can only protect them for so long before an accident happens. No matter what we try or how hard we protect them, one day someone will slip up or an incident we can't control we end up with us losing them. With that we lose this battle."

Now I feel like a complete ass…. He groaned inwardly.

"You have something more that you want to save to me." Again he stated the fact, not the question.

"I know this battle is killing both sides, I also know that others are suffering in all of this—but I still need some time. If what you are saying is true then what little free time we have…. I want to spend it with the one person that matters to me."

"Out of everyone here I know more then anyone how you feel. But I can't let you stop to have days with your soulmate while others are still fighting. It isn't fair and a request that isn't right to ask. You shall continue to head to the clubs at night and make reports to me. Hunter Redfern is up to something and quite frankly I don't like it."

Even though Ash had known the answer he still didn't like the results that played out at him. But Lord Thierry was right; it was not right to ask for things that he was. However, he it couldn't help the want of the request.

"Instead of going to a different club every night. Head out to a club that you think could hold valuable information. 4 days of the week I expect you to be there, no less then that. Understood?" Thierry demanded with a smile.

There was only place to look for her and there was an excitement that was now bubbling up more then when Mary-Lynnette had first appeared before at the airport with luggage in tow.

Tomorrow night would change things; it would help him connect with Mary-Lynnette. Tomorrow night will help him to understand her and her to understand him.

Hopefully tomorrow night things would change, at least for the small and brief moment, for the first time since him and Mary-Lynnette had met, he was taking her out on a date.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

What do you wear for things like this? Mary-Lynnette had never been one for the malls, the crowded food court and the loud screams of children that wanted something from the department stores. But this was a bit of an emergency and she had no idea what her lifesaver would look like.

"I think you're over thinking this." Mary-Lynnette said from the twelfth dress rack that they had filed through. But Poppy North was determined; she wouldn't leave the mall until the perfect dress popped out at her. It seemed like a hopeless endeavor that would hold little results.

"I think that your aren't thinking about this enough." Poppy stated, "Ash even said to dress nice tonight, formal if I'm not mistaken?"

Yes….Ash had found her in the garden, where other place would she be? She remembered the awkward moment, the clench of her gut at recalling the fact that he might want to talk about those nights. The ones were she waited for him, hoping that he would show up early to find her awake and waiting for him…. And even those nights when she was falling asleep and wanting him to see her like that; a punishment that she wanted him to for take.

But a small smile made her heart pause for a moment, a kind clumsy smile that made her knees slightly give and the ice around her chip away. When Ash said those words she couldn't believe him, the idea of a real date, one that wasn't in the back of her pick up trunk with chips to keep them satisfied. He wanted a real date that would unfold out to her in secret, one that wasn't held in a place that was surrounded by people. But he wanted her to dress nice.

Mary-Lynnette recalled watching as those brilliant light blue eyes danced at him the moment that she said yes.

The night that would play out before her tonight would be perfect…. If she could only find a dress that was perfect, maybe then she could feel better about tonight.

They left the department store with nothing, she had tried on nothing and there didn't seem to be anything that would look good on her. The once dark tanned skin that she once had was beginning to fade away from all the hours of sleeping in and waiting up for Ash, against her dark hair it seemed almost faded out and washed away. Mare was beginning to debate trying to convince Ash to let her come in sweats and a t-shirt; that she would have no trouble pulling off.

"There is one more place that we should try, it's a little bit out of the way from home but Lady Hannah and I have gone there on occasion when we have the free time."

"How long ago was that?"

Poppy thought for a moment, her fingers strumming against the steering wheel. " I would say about 7 months? There hasn't been a need to actually go there since then."

"What happened 7 months ago?"

Poppy smiled to herself, "It was Lady Hannah's birthday. The first time in all of her lives that she was able to be 17 years old. It was a need to celebrate, that and the end of a vampire called Maya."

Mary-Lynnette wanted to ask more but Poppy waved her away, "Today is about finding you a dress, not talking about bad events. I swear if we can't find you a dress here we shall result in making a dress for you! Michaels is right around the corner!"

Under the safety of bag Mary-Lynnette crossed her fingers in desperation. Dear Goddess…. Poppy with sewing materials? It was something that she wasn't looking forward to.

For a few moments she fretted over that fact but they weren't in the store for more then a few moments when squeals came from the young vampire, startling the poor sales clerk in the far corner. "The search it over!"

* * *

Mary-Lynnette had been blown away but the site before her. Ash gave her an address to follow and instructions on what to do as she as she arrived.

But at the moment she was left it utter amazement. Her drive had taken her to Lake Tahoe, where the water was as blue as the sky itself and the breeze felt warm against her skin. It was amazing. A rented out Cottage sat at the water's edge, the sands pulling out away from the grass to show rocks that were prefect for skipping stones. For only two people the place was large enough with three bedroom and bath for each one. The kitchen was vast, and even though she could really call herself cook, she could imagine herself in her trying to learn recipes and succeeding—or failing—the dish. The living room was surprising warm and small, but definitely cozy with no TV, but a fireplace instead. But it was the porch that really made her giddy with excitement. It was larger and so much better then the one that she was forced to leave back at home. A telescope, that had the capacity to get even a better look at the stars (Sorry I don't really know about these things!) where the rings of gas surrounded a star would be seen with a swirling mist.

Her fingers trailed over the cool metal wondering exactly what his plans were for the evening. It was true that they never had a first date… but I know that this isn't exactly on the same lines as one. What did Ash have in store?

She quickly looked down at her watch and saw that already she was behind schedule… not very smart for Ash to do, but maybe this one she would let it go. But I needed to get ready.

With her overnight bag thrown onto the bed she dumped her all her make-up and jewelry onto the bed spread…. She looked helplessly at the amount of make-up that Poppy had picked up for her. Right now, amidst all this, she really wished that Rowan was here and absently remembered the hairstyle that Rowan had done or her and wished that she could duplicate it.

Maybe I can pull off a messy braid with the dress….

At that moment she looked like a lost Puppy.

* * *

There was so much that he wanted to plan tonight, so much that he wished that he could pack into something that didn't seem like it had enough hours in the day for. He had rented the place for three days, right by the water and enough of the forest for things to be secluded and where the animals were easy to get. Plus the view, the stars that seemed so close Ash swore that he could touch them.

He already saw her car parked off on the side by the time he pulled in. Ash had wanted to pick her up, to be with her right from the very start of the day, but there were things that needed to be filed and reports to finish. He had hurried through them as fast as he could so that he could hold even more moments and seconds with her.

Ash reached out to her, looking through the rooms of the house, already excited about the plans he had for tonight, the things that he wanted to say and prove.

But she wasn't there. He doubled checked again, yet there was so sign of her. Strange—well not really, she must be out hiking somewhere in the woods, no doubt trying to see where the best place to put the telescope was. What Mary-Lynnette didn't know was that he had already panned for that, a perfect spot on the ledge of a mountainside.

Well this gives me more of a chance to plans a few more things out for her.

Nothing was going to take away from tonight, nothing!

And there in the entrance way was a letter address to Ash on the small table by the door. Mare? Why would she leave a letter?

He opened it and before even being able to unfold the letter a small slip of—paper? But it was a glossy finish portraying a picture made his heart stop and an icy feel of fingers grip at him.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Ash Redfern's fist collided with the wall, his arm pressing further into the wood, not caring that the splinters were pushing into his flesh and the burns that were already searing into him, his eyes were brimming with tears and silver sheen to the color of endless black.

The Nightworld had gone too far.

* * *

**Did you seriously think that everything would stay this way? I did promise you that things would be happening as the chapters pushed on! Ain't I a stinker? **

**Please Review, I know that this was shorter then I wanted and the end a little rushed but the next chapter is going to be long and intense! Please stay tune and be patient! It will be out soon!**

**Till then**

**~Triss**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Lord Thierry paced back and force, unsure of what to do or even how to even process everything that had happened in less then a 24 hour span. It felt like the cards that he'd been given to help him win the games was suddenly switched on him and instead of having a royal flush he only had a mess of suits and numbers that were barely enough to keep him at the table.

That and it took all the manpower he had to keep Ash from running out the doors of the mansion. Again he looked down at the picture, the small piece of Glossy Square that had driven Ash Redfern insane with anger and worry. He hadn't realized the effect it would have had on the other residents. A thankful accident had alerted the rest of the mansion when Ash had come barging into the house and Hannah had run into him. Within moments of her calm demeanor and Thierry's help they had been able to get him to open up. They had found out the truth and now everything was falling in on them.

After Ash had come to them Thierry needed to tell the rest of the house, the others that lived and breathed easy thinking of safety. Instead all that awaited them was worry and fear about the future for all of them. That even included him.

Once again he picked it up, keeping it from Ash to encourage anything rash. However, looking at this now, red sharpie scrawled across it, it made him want hide Hannah away from the world and make sure that nothing would ever happen to her.

Thierry tossed the picture into the drawer and closed it with a resound click. He didn't want to look at that picture any longer. There was something about that picture that made him think about the past. Thierry had lived through his own hell, living in a nightmare that was now slowing disappearing because of his soulmate. At least at some point Ash and him had been able to understand each other to a certain level. But now—now Ash was in a world all his own and his own hell that Thierry hoped that they wouldn't share.

* * *

The image was burned in his head. The flashes and worry were burning themselves into his heart. What was he going to do? The only thing that he was sure about was the bitter fact that she was still out there.

The palms of his hands bit down into his eyes wanting to push the image away. It was there, though, vibrant and burning clear in his mind. No matter what he wanted or should have felt there was nothing that he could do to shake his mind of the horror and dreams that had started to build themselves together. Nightmare on top of nightmare.

It didn't matter that Lord Thierry and Lady Hannah had taken the picture away there was no escaping the image. Ash closed his eyes and it flashed bright in his mind. Mary-Lynnette laid there, curled back against the back seat of a car, there was really nothing really menacing about that, it looked as if Mare had fallen asleep, if it weren't for the face that stared back leering back at him in the picture. His fingers curling in her hair, an evil smile splitting across his face. The red sharpie scrawled across the front of the picture: Your Move.

The others thought that it had to be a threat, a warning for the future of the others. But there was something about that face, those words scratched into the surface of pictures. He was challenging Ash to something, now what was driving him insane was what was the game? How could he win?

In this game Mare was the prize.

* * *

A jerk a bump on the road was the only think that woke up the girl that had slipped away. Mary-Lynnette could barely get a grip before a bottle of water was thrust into her face.

"Here, it will take out the taste of old pennies from your mouth. After that try and composed your self a little more, you're a mess." The creature that offered her that water was beyond gorgeous. A pale gold waterfall tumbled down past her shoulders into her pointer and thumb, twirling it between her delicate fingers. The girl gave Mary-Lynnette gave a cruel smile, "Then again is there any to change a filthy pigeon into a dove?"

Mare slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, something wasn't right. She couldn't remember anything… rushing upstairs to get ready for her date tonight. She noticed that she was still in short and a tank, not even shoes or flip flop covered her feet, they were bare against the rough carpet of the limousine floor.

Everything about this was wrong; the feelings that were pushing on her were over whelming. No matter how much she pulled or tugged at the cord inside her there was no response, there was no connection to Ash at all. Everything about this was just plain wrong.

Remember, try and remember something from last night. Anything! She scrabbled the remains of her brain, hoping to remember something….

… All she really could remember was starting the shower, the fan blasting in her room, twirling the dress that she had spent hours looking for, her mind had been indulging on his plans for their night together. She walked into the bathroom and stared back at herself in the mirror… a noise in her bedroom.

Then the rest was blank.

"What do you want?"

"You've been quite the trouble for my father. I don't even think you realize the damage your doing." The girl's voice was calm, but there was still a certain bite to it that made her voice the very feeling of ice.

"Your father?"

The girl smirked, "Isn't that obvious?"

With Mary-Lynnette expression the girl laughed, all of this had to be a bad dream that was the only reason. It had to be. The girl in front of her and the events that were playing out in front of her made everything seem all too real. The look from the girls face…Her father was Hunter Redfern….

The girl before her was Ash's elder sister (I'm pretty sure that this is fact. If it isn't I am sorry and will change this detail).

"Jade, we're about 10 minutes from entering the main gate." The driver in the front informed her.

Jade waved her hand in his general direction and pulled out a cell phone pushing away at the keypad. Her mind was somewhere else for the moment. Mare acted as best as she could and lunged forward. Her hand curling around the handle and pulled pushed the door open and without a second thought jumped out of the car.

Mary-Lynnette was thankful for the safety classes that she took all those years ago, though none of the lessons involved jumping out of a moving car. She tucked her limbs together and rolled across the pavement. Her knee hitting down on the road painfully; she rolled until she stopped and jumped up ignoring the pain that was biting into her leg and working upward and the small rocks that were cutting in the soles of her feet.

She ran.

Her body pushed into the woods, knocking away the branches and the fallen sticks and that blocked her path. She didn't know where she was or where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to get away as far and as fast as possible. The only problem was… would she be able to?

Her answer came in only a few moments when an arm threw itself in my path and slammed into her chest. She fell back in dirt and could only glare up into the vampire's face that held such a smug look.

"At least you'll be an interesting toy. Now enough of this crap, keeping my father waiting any longer will not wait help you live any longer. It's a potential health hazard."

Mary-Lynnette was led into a large room, reminding her of an audience room, there was only one reason for a room like this. A meaning of intimidation and a show of power and control, this room that was carpeted with fine rugs and marble floor with an enormous chandelier that hung overhead. This place was doing its job of scaring her. She felt alone and absolutely powerless.

Ash where are you? She thought that she could handle things on her own, be the big girl, but this was beyond her. This wasn't back home, this was in a world that she had no knowledge of; she didn't even know if she was still in Nevada. The only thing that Mary-Lynnette was sure of was the fact that she was all alone and that she was beyond terrified.

But she still had to be strong. They wanted something from her, that much she was certain of, but she wasn't going to give them anything. No matter what she could not be the one to betray them.

At that moment a door opened up in the back opened and a curtain was drawn back. Whatever small conversations that were in the room had died away and all eyes were on the figure that walked forward into the dim light.

But there seemed to be a light all his own, a powerful one that terrified those into following him. All he needed to do was stand there, with pools of molten gold that sent chills down spines. This was the one that brought so many nightmares into the world and have taken away the lives of so many.

Hunter Redfern walked forward, dead center into the room. His eyes fixed solely on the only human standing before him, a smile playing at his lips, "Well done Jade. Yet again you always seem to manage the task of pleasing me. You've done a fine job this time."

His daughter walked forward toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Father I present to you Mary-Lynnette; Ash's –if you will—soulmate."

The cruel tone of her words brought snickers and laugh from the rest of the court. All Mary-Lynnette could do was just stand there and wait trying to keep the rest of her body from shaking and show the sign of fear in her eyes. Her shoulders stayed square and she stared straight ahead trying to keep her eyes from meeting his.

He stepped even closer, his fingers spiderlike in her hair. "Well I can see why my son took such an infatuation with you. You seem to fit into the world of being placed in a small room to be observed and studied. What an interesting human my son has picked out for himself."

It took all her courage to stand completely still, to hold back the emotions of terror and hatred that were radiating inside her. But he seemed to know, chuckling and clucked at her chin as if a toddler.

"I find your hate very refreshing. Especially since you are one of the only humans and even some nightworlders that can have such a calm demeanor in my presence. But you cannot win, the ones the you and your kind have infected are weak and pitiful by the disease that you have spilled upon one another."

"Your wrong." The words were sure and steady, something that she didn't think was possible for her. Mare wasn't even sure that those words had come out of her own mouth. But it didn't matter.

Within moment Jade had walked forward and back handed her, a ring, on her index finger, torn into her skin shedding the smell and scent of blood wafting through the room. Mare clutched her check tumbling sideways, trying to keep herself from landing hard on the floor.

There was no anger in Jade's face, there was no hint of rage or any kind of emotion for that latter, just a blank canvas free of emotion. She didn't even say a word.

Redfern laughed, mockingly scolding his daughter, "Jade is that anyway we treat our guest of honor?" But the girl only inclined her head in his direction, only acknowledging she had heard him not that she had taken anything he said to heart.

But then his attention was back on Mary-Lynnette, " Well a human with a voice, my, my, I haven't seen one of those in a while. Not since that one era of priests that tried to eradicate the world the superior beings."

Those two words at the end, superior beings, it was a well-versed sentence to one sad little boy. "Timmy" she whispered.

"Ah I see that you've met my youngest adopted son; a real gem and bright young child for his generation. Very few among even those that reside under this house know that he had once been human. Timmy was a shinning crown that took to the nightworld even better then some pure bloods."

"Like Ash." She said.

There was a slight twitch from the leader, "Unfortunately yes. You see, humans, like yourself, don't realize the that you all carry with you a disease—a virus if you will—that can effect us in a such a way that it is a threat to the very existence that we have created. This world that we have built up for so many years, the safety and security that we have built for generations are crumbling and falling apart because of this epidemic that you are causing. Even you humans understand that something that has become an epidemic must be destroyed and confined so that it does not continue to spread and infect those around them. It is the natural balance and course of any species."

So he is afraid of us. Mary-Lynnette realized, this wasn't just about power and control this was about fear—

"Oh no my dear. You're completely wrong about that. Something so weak against something that is so strong. Well there is nothing to be afraid of. All that you are is just a hindrance to us; a thorn in my side that I am having a very difficult time getting rid of and your race is growing rapidly like weeds."

How did he know—

_You know nothing about what I can do._ A voice crawled forward, tentacles wrapping around her brain and thoughts. Hunter took a long pointer and tapped at his temple. His strength and power was beyond anything that she had seen or heard from Ash or any of the others from Circle Daybreak.

"Child if I truly wanted to I could make you do anything that I wanted. You need to understand the position that you're in. Be compliant." Hunter Redfern stood in front of Mare, his hands on either side of her face, his fingers crawling up towards her own temples. Clean cold skin against dirty warmth.

There was this blinding burst of power, pressure that built up in the back of her mind. She sucked in a sharp breath and pushed back. Her promise walking into this building still stood before her and she pushed with everything she had. A pain flashed through her, Hunter's nails beginning to scratch into her skin, the wound on her cheek sending a trickle down her jawbone.

Ash…

Redfern suddenly lurched away, as if his hands were on fire. For a brief moment Mary-Lynnette saw something other then the molten gold in his eyes, a flash of something that looked almost like fear.

The faint silver that swirled in his eyes disappeared just as fast as it had come and the Hunter Redfern that rarely surfaced had sunk back into the black abyss of this creature. A hand came up smoothing over hair that hadn't seemed to lose its place and stepped back toward what could only be described as a thrown. "Didn't I child say that you needed to be compliant?"

A snap of his fingers and steel hands wrapped around her arms pushing her forward toward the chair; pushed down to her knees and a fear blazing through her, Mary-Lynnette's mind played up its own image of the consequences that were about to be given to her.

Out of the corner of her eyes a dagger, long, sharp and deadly, was unsheathed. Her hair yanked up and back causing her head to look up into the face she knew would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

That old haunting smile came back, "As the saying goes there is more then one way to skin a cat."

The dagger sailed down.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The knife came down, her hair pulled up painfully—and brushed against the sides of her neck, the rest of her long remaining strands of hair tumbled around her, curling up on the floor and in her lap. Mary-Lynnette's hair had been hacked away, her hair just pulling under her chin.

That had been a bit…anti-climatic. Mare's fingers came up, curling into her hair in shock. Why? Why this?

Hunter laughed at her puzzled expression and the fears inside her began to bubble up once more. The anticipation of the future events had already started to from knots in her stomach. "If this is what you find sinister my dear girl then there you have lived a very sheltered life. You hair was an obstacle, an inferior one I admit, but an obstacle nonetheless. Now Lily (**Please forgive me I made a mistake and realized that her name was Lily, NOT Jade! I don't have my books with me for reference!) **if you don't mind please go and summon Belladonna here. There are issues that need to be attended to, for example, where to place our new guest."

The vampire looked down disdainfully at her before heading her father's orders and sauntered off to another part of the house. Suddenly the human was all-alone, the other creatures of the nightworld had left. Leaving Mary-Lynnette alone with Hunter Redfern. She was almost wishing that the girl had stayed there, a strange and unfriendly comfort in this hostile new world.

With her fingers still in her hair she stared up at the luminous figure sitting before her. "Why?" was all that she could manage to say, the other words and fears that wanted to come out remained sealed in her throat, terrified of the consequences that laid wait if they said anything.

"As I had said before my dear one: There is more then one way to skin a cat and you hair had been a minor obstacle that frankly I don't want to have to bother with. " Redfern stood now edging closer to her.

Even in the most modern and developed society the human—the animal instinct for protection can rise itself to the occasion when the life is threatened. The primitive feelings had already started to take hold, her arms and feet pushing her back, further from the monster.

Hunter seemed to find this amusing. "Your already at a breaking point miss. Your body is already quivering with fear and your body isn't responding to the simple commands that you're trying to give you. You really are an amusing creature. Enough with these games though, I have a schedule that I must stick to and further delay will put me behind."

His speed was unmatched, the strength beyond anything that she had ever felt, in Ash's arms she felt safe and secure, not even a tornado could break his shield if he held her. But this felt like a prison, a stone cold prison that made her very mind weak and scared.

His hand stretched themselves over her neck and fingers, even his fingers push up against her neck forcing her head up and tilted to the side. Her eyes grew wide with fear and recognition. Mary-Lynnette nails clawed at his skin, this wasn't right. This wasn't right. Stale breath against her neck, a feeling as if there was death creeping at her. Her hair easily fell away and for a brief moment there was a spark of anger, her hair grown for years, braided by her birth mother at special occasions, Ash combing his fingers through her hair and the way Rowan had at one point built up. It had been hacked away because Hunter Redfern wanted a snack a nibble at something that gave life and breath.

"I'm sure that you've given life to that son of mine. This will be nothing like the connection you've had. Now let's see what information you have stored inside you."

Hunter Redfern bit her and Mary-Lynnette let out a scream that revealed the pain that felt like it was destroying her.

* * *

It was the shattering of glass that brought Timmy away from the contents he was reading out of a book he'd randomly picked up in the library. The noise irking him and the curiosity overwhelming him to put it down and investigate the cause of the noise. Whenever there was commotion in this house, he found out, meant that there was action that was about to take place, more or less the childish immature teenagers that romped around the mansion.

What he found instead was something he had never thought he would see, even from one of the people that he felt had betrayed such a superior race the most. Ash Redfern had been reduced to something resembling that of a wounded animal, his breath hissing in and out as if even a single breath was like a knife going through him. What could have caused this to happen?

Even the boy was alarmed by this, a powerful creature reduced to hands and knees, on hand pressed against his neck, knuckles turning white as the pain rippled over his skin. Timmy could only watch afraid to even step any closer to the animal before him. He would be of no help in a situation like this. Luckily though, he wasn't the only one to hear the crash as within moments of him entering the room the sound of running feet soon became louder as others came to investigate. The sight before them left them just as shaken.

Only two stepped away from the eyes that remained in the doorway, James Rasmussen and Quinn walked forward, carefully walking around the glass that remained shattered on the floor. Apparently Ash had fallen into one of the tables, shattering a glass vase and shredding the roses that had once called it their home. They didn't stare strangely at him when they helped him up or looked down on him as Ash leaned heavily on Quinn. They only sat him down at the nearest couch, Quinn calling out to Rashel who came rushing back with a pair of tweezers. No one said anything as she picked out the shards of glass in his hand, even now Ash would still suck in a sharp breath as a wave of pain struck him, the hand at his neck twitching with each new wave.

With in only a few moments James pushed everyone away from the doorway, shutting the door with a resounding slam and lock. Soon, one by one, they began to disperse. All of them except Timmy who stayed and listened by the door, the conversation had already started.

"I have to go. I have to go now!" Ash voice was sharp and seemed to bite at every word he said.

"Where will you go? You have no idea where she is. Even if you do, you don't know how to get her out of there. Wherever that is!" Quinn rationed.

The sounds of a scuffle suddenly shook everything, but then quieted down just as fast. A pause of silence, a choked voice, "She's in pain—I felt it, an unimaginable pain that was eating me—eating her! Killing her! Am I supposed to ignore it?" The last of his words were shouted out causing the door listening in to jump, startled by the amount of passion.

How could he possibly know if there was anything happening to that girl? But what confused Timmy more was this feeling of dread that was eating up inside him. Was it for Hunter Redfern, fearing that his own son was now out for his blood?

Or was it something else? Maybe for the kinder person that looked at him with such a sad smile. Not even his own sister—that vermin, would show him a smile.

"I don't care what happens! I just got to get her out of there! If your not going to help me I have no problem doing it on my own!"

His cousin, James, raised his voice even louder, " That's the problem! Your always doing things on your own without telling anyone or letting anyone help you! We didn't eve know where the two of you had gone otherwise—"

But his words were cut short, "So this is my fault!" Ash roared, " Mary-Lynnette's been kidnapped by the people we're fighting life and death with and you blame me for them taking her? I didn't hand her over, I didn't draw a freaking map and a time when they could come and pick her up! You Jack Ass!"

"That's not what he's saying!" The voice calmer and more soothing, Timmy recognized, belonged to Rashel, " You hadn't told anyone where you were going. If circle daybreak had known we would have put up simple precautions up in a nearby area. The same goes for anyone of the members here. It's not your fault, what he is saying is you refuse to let anyone in. Anyone at all! Let us help you, look at you now; you can barely stand on your own two feet. What happens if this happens while your trying to protect her? You'll help neither of you if this keeps up."

Her reasoning made sense but Ash would hear none of it. "This won't happen again. I'll make sure of it!"

"And how would you do that? " Quinn asked, "How can you be so sure?"

The strong anger that Ash had was already deflating, paining with difficulty he spoke, " Because it wasn't a physical pain or wound—I don't even know exactly what he was doing, but it felt like he was tearing at her, pulling at something—its like he'd taken that cord that connects us and trying to rip it apart."

**I know that it was very short and I wanted to put more but then I thought that this was a perfect way to end the chapter. Don't worry I'm already working on the next one. It may even be out Tomorrow though I can't make any promises. **

**I hope that you like it and again R&R! I want to know what you guys like, what you don't like and maybe even things you would like to see or even a certain nightworld couple that you want me to check in on and write a quick little piece. **

**Til next time**

**~Triss**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It had tugged at him, a feeling of something that was eating away at him. It had been slow at first, suddenly ebbing into a wave of something harsh and cruel. His breath had left him, his chest constricting and tightened. The pain had been unbearable, but it had been nothing compared to the one that had chewed at him, there was no real way to describe it. Almost like a rat that was ripping at him from the inside—what had she felt?

Quinn and James had left him in his room, where Thierry had placed someone to make sure that he wouldn't run off. They were going to solve he had said, but they didn't know the torture of being left here in this room surrounded by everything that reminded him of her. The scents that still clung to the sheets and the book on the small coffee table had already broken its spine from keeping that place were she had stopped reading. Ash felt as he if he was going insane, losing his mind. He needed to go find her and sitting her wasn't going to do anything to change that.

The door clicked open, Ash didn't even bother to care who it was. He only wanted those three words said, "You can go." But they didn't come.

Lord Thierry walked in, a stone expression chiseled in his features; the look in his eyes already told Ash that he wasn't the only one fighting Thierry on this. For a brief flicker he could show pity for someone else beside himself right now… pity, huh Mary-Lynnette would have kicked me in the shins if she heard me say that.

The eldest vampire heaved a heavy sigh; "I won't give you the words you want to hear right now. Even still I ask that you listen to what I have to say, what information you give me could change everything that we have been fighting for. I ask you, will you?"

The words he wanted to say were no, to barge out of the room and fight his way to get at some wheels. He knew that if he could get out of here there was a chance that he could find her… but then what about all those nights? The ones that he had sacrificed, with her—for her, by going off on assignments instead of staying with her; he could blame Thierry, tell him that if it weren't for those assignments that this never would have happened.

But his eyes already thought the same way; Lord Thierry was expecting Ash to say no.

So Ash said, "Yes."

There was a brief pause, a moment for both of them to try and make an attempt to collect themselves. "What did you mean when you had told James and Quinn when something had attacked at the very thing that bound you to your soulmate?"

Ash couldn't even begin to describe it, but Thierry asked him to try, " There is this strength—this silver cord that I feel ties Mare and I together. Through that cord I know the basics of her emotions and thoughts, I can find her through it if she's nearby… and it—it connects us. What happened a few hours ago it felt like someone was trying to forcefully tear away at it. I don't really know myself, but there was this unimaginable wave of dark at burned away at me…. I can't really tell you anymore then that."

His words didn't comfort Thierry, if anything the worried lines that seemed to have formed overnight were pushing further into his skull. Lord Thierry confirmed it, " If they have an understanding of the soulmate principal that we don't then I'm afraid that the tables have shifted in a place that isn't in our favor."

Lord Thierry quietly thanked him and began to depart. Ash quickly stood up, " Wait, please. Give me an answer at least. How much longer do I have to stay here? Do I have to wait until the cord that tie me to her is ripped apart! "

"No, I promise that you won't feel that a second time. I've already sent people out to look for signs for Mary-Lynnette. I can't have you go out there yet, you being anywhere in the area she is in may confirm things for them."

"So I can't save the person I care about more then anything? I can go off the minute we found out where she is?" Ash thundered, the calm and collect feelings and mind set were already starting to get thrown out the window. " Don't leave me here in the dark and expect me not to fight back!"

"This situation is different from my situation with Hannah and you know it!" Thierry snapped, " At this point in time we have no idea if Hunter knows even the damage that he has done yet! If that's the case I want to leave him in the dark for as long as possible, but if you show up all hell fire and try to rescue her he will hold a lot more power over us then we could possibly imagine."

"So we leave her—"

"What if they caught Hannah next? Poppy or Rashel? If Hunter figures out that it is possible to damage the soulmate connection then do you think that he would just let it continue? If that happens do you think he wouldn't try and do anything about that information? We are walking on a very thin slate of glass right now. Throwing fire over it isn't going to keep up from falling into an icy water grave." He paused a moment before softening his voice, "You've hit a point of desperation and fear that no one else in the nightworld has ever had to taste, not even myself… and there are many things that I have yet to atone for still. I cannot imagine what you must be feeling and I can't blame you if your truly hate me. But there is more than just Mary-Lynnette in trouble if Hunter realizes just what he has actually done. The moment we know her exact whereabouts I promise that you will be the first one to know and the one to go after. I just beg you to hold on a little longer."

Lord Thierry left then, neither waiting for Ash to explode and crumble in resign. It didn't matter though; Ash could do neither but stand there and try to take in all those words and reasons. Whether he wanted to admit it or not the vampire had been right.

He'd have to wait; there was no other choice. But he prayed that it would be soon. There was only so much time that he could wait before his fear took over. Before even Mary-Lynnette's strength crumbled in on itself just like that night…

She had been strong but almost immediately after the battle and the reality sank in she could hold herself together… so what about now?

The pain had felt her gasping for air, to try and capture those beats that her heart had missed. She lay crumpled on the floor, not caring that Hunter Redfern sat back in his chair wiping away the line of red that trickled out of the corner of his mouth. What that creature had done was nothing like the connection she and Ash had shared, she hadn't been expecting that it would but this… this was beyond the physical boundaries being ripped away. She felt raped, abused and wanted to purge herself in boiling water and scrub herself. Mary-Lynnette had never felt so dirty, disgusting.

The vampire before her didn't notice her discomfort or chose to ignore it and stepped over her body leaving her to try and regain any warmth that had desperately hidden itself inside her. But there was little to no avail.

"Would you kindly escort the child to the old servants courters on the north side of the estate? The smell in here is becoming rather pungent and I'd rather not have it start to attach itself to my clothes."

She didn't feel anything as she was bodily lifted and swung over one shoulder, didn't care when he complained out her weight or how she bumped against his back. There is pain that can take such root and depth inside someone that all other pain just doesn't seem to exist, at least to the point of where your conscious becomes aware again.

The vampire carrying her was well aware of this fact that he hadn't even bothered to bind her hands or legs as he unceremoniously dumped her in his trunk of his old BMW and locked in shut on her. The darkness engulfed her and there was no way to tell what part of her began and where she ended.

Mary-Lynnette could only feel the salty tracks on her cheeks slowly warm as wet down. She wanted to call out to Ash, her father, and Mark. The strong ones of her heart because she didn't think that she was even close to the strong person that she'd once thought of herself. It only took one person—one monster to make her realize that. This was a hell that was unfamiliar and she was pretty sure that there would be no books about to deal with this kind of state of mind. This was a state that had bee created just for her and unlike all the other problems she'd had to face, there didn't seem to be a way to fix this or even get herself out of this situation.

What was going to happen to her? Would she make it out of this? Would she even see Ash again.

Mare cried silently into her arm vowing that if things were different she wouldn't hold back on feelings by fears and uncertainty. Even now she admitted the one thing that could make things, "Ash I need you."

She cried like that as the road stretched on and the only soothing sound was the humming of the car and drifted off from exhaustion. A quick pray that when she opened her eyes, she'd be back in Ash's bed in Thierry's mansion, Ash sleeping contorted on the couch and the smell of brunch wafting in through the creeks in the door.

If only….

"Ash, you don't understand. Mary-Lynnette's been dodging my dad's calls for the last month! They were supposed to stop by her university but they never got the ok to get down there! My dad's been riding down my throat because he knows that I know something that I'm not telling him!" Mark was already starting to lose his cool.

Ash sighed, still debating whether or not he should even tell Mark what was going on. The conversation would have been something in a cheesy comic book: Listen Mark I got bad news to tell you, Mary-Lynnette has been kidnapped by the number one enemy of circle daybreak. How do I know? Well because he sent me a scary picture of him with your sister in his car. I don't know what's going on because I can't leave the room at the mansion to go look for her. The good news is that she isn't dead yet because I felt the worse pain in my life yesterday, but she didn't die from it!

Yeah… that was definitely not the way to do.

"I'll… I'll talk to her. There have been a lot of things going on around the mansion. With everything we haven't been thinking about things outside of the nightworld." Well he wasn't completely lying.

"I still don't understand why she won't answer the phone though. She hasn't even been picking up the phone when I call her. Is she mad at me for not holding off dad or something?"

If only that were the problem.

"No, no that's not it. There are other things going on around here. Big things. Our time hasn't really been easy around here."

A pause, "What aren't you telling me? Ash, what's going on? Is—is Mary-Lynnette ok?" The last part came out a bit choked, as if he even knew that there wasn't something quite right going on.

But should Ash tell him? There really wasn't much that he could say on the phone anyway without the possibility of someone tapping into the line; He had already screwed up enough to let anything else happen. "Mark, I have to get going. There are things that I got to sort out. When I see Mary-Lynnette I'll tell her to call you and your dad. Ok?"

"What? Ash, don't hang up the phone! Answer my—" But he flipped the phone shut and turned it off before it could ring again.

Unlike Ash, if Mare disappeared then there would be multiple worlds that collapsed into nothing. Including his own.

The world woke her with a sun that sell in the way of her eyes. Seeping in through her eyelids and into her brain. Almost yelling at her to wake up and find out if her wish came true.

It wasn't. The room she found instead was built from an attic, a long, low attic that stretched out over part of a building that laid under her. The cot was scratchy against her bare skin and bruises on her legs and arms seemed to throb with each attempt at movement. Barely any movement though showed what lay in store for her. Old-fashioned handcuffs bound her wrists with leather straps, to keep her skin from chaffing, how kind of them she thought absently, and a long thick chain attached itself to the frame of the bedside. Mare tugged at it experimentally at the chain and found that it was secure. Nothing that she could do would change that.

What would be her prison was nothing more then what seemed like a narrow crawl space that was thick and heavy with the Nevada air. It was so thick that it made her head spin all the more. All she could do was lay back down against the brick mean to be a pillow and absently felt her fingers brush against the area of her neck.

Smooth skin, no blemish or scratch, not even the warmth of blood rushing up to the skin. It was just like she expected it, but still that didn't mean she couldn't feel it. The way her spine seemed to want to break apart at the thought of him being so close to her. Just remembering was ripping through her again.

Tears washed over her again. She had to get out of here.

"Ash, please find me"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

A flick of water, a pat on the cheek, rough with calloused hands and an impatient tap, was what stirred her away from her stupor and into a world of haze and spinning colors.

They were eyes; the first set of shapes that formed, cold cruel steel eyes that stared down at her. "It's amazing the capacity of something so weak to survive with such a pathetic state."

There was a familiar presence about her, a chill that would run up and own her spine. Mary-Lynnette formed simple words, "I saw you… back…. Back there… far in the—in the corner." The memories were scrambled around, flying to fast for her to even catch them and get a firm grip.

She was rewarded with a smile, nothing proud or impressed, it was amused. "Yes, I was. Observant little thing aren't you? Yes, I was there. Hunter Redfern summoned me with something valuable for me at the end of the rainbow. Of course playing with you with keep me entertained for a while. A bonus."

Mare hated showing how shaking and weak she was when she only wanted to stay strong even in a situation that had given her nothing and had lost all and any control she had. " I'm not a toy for you to play with when you're bored with your skulking around." But her voice squeaked and croaked when her throat begged for something liquid.

"Many people have said that over the years. I doubt you will be the first to take that choice with you to the grave." The woman grabbed a handful of air and yanked up until Mary-Lynnette was face to face with her. "Mary-Lynnette, toy and walking food bank for Ash Redfern, son of the leader of the nightworld, Hunter Redfern. Lived in a small town of nothing with your younger brother who is also following in your footsteps with Jade Redfern. One thing you need to understand child is that I will never under estimate my prey, vermin or not."

If someone asked Mary-Lynnette in the future why she did what she was about to do she would give only one answer. "I am not weak" When the vampire's face leered at her, Mare took her wrists and flick up in such a way that the chain connected to the bed post whipped upward and into the porcelain skin in front of her.

She yelped and released her grip on Mare's hair and watch in amazement as blood already trickled down her cheekbones, but the wound had already begun to heal by the time eyes grew colder. "Are we starting lessons early? I was going to wait a few days but you seem to be so eager to learn why make you be patient?" Belladonna hadn't even bothered to wipe away the trail of red on her snow white skin, her eyes took on a silver haze, her hands reached back toward the figure in the bed—

"Belladonna." The voice froze her in its tracks, "Not today, you can have her tomorrow afternoon. Not before, damage her too much and its our head that on the line. Let the creature get the blow of his anger instead of us." The owner was a calm brooding man with warm brown hair and storm eyes that seemed to be in a torrent of a hurricane.

"Balthazar." Belladonna spoke, "As logical as always. When will I see you show any emotions of anger in those eyes?"

But there is emotion there; Mary-Lynnette noticed that from the first moment he had appeared in her line of vision. The storm that was raging in on in his eyes and grown into a violent torrent of thunder and lightening when his eyes fell upon the female vampire. It was hate, a passionate hate for the woman before him. Not once had they fallen upon the human, not once did they leave Belladonna.

"Lily wants to see you. I wouldn't want to keep her waiting if I were you."

The vampire looked like she wanted to say something but at the last moment thought better of it before walking out the door passed him. However not before she quickly raised a hand, a feathery touch against his skin before leaving.

He turned to go, "Thank you" Mary-Lynnette whispered, even doubting whether he had heard her at all.

Balthazar turned then; "Don't mistaken my intentions for duty with kindness. There is no need for her to have everything that she wants." His voice spat out the last few words and quietly shut the door behind him.

As the night fell into her window Mary-Lynnette was forced to endure the fact that she was more alone then she had ever felt in this world. That the one person who could chase away all her fears had no idea where she was in this world.

Or how long it would take to find her.

She tried to curl up in the far corner away from the door and hugged herself with the thin shawl of the blanket that scratched her skin. With eyes that didn't want to close she tried to dream of old memories, where she was safe and happy. Where this world hadn't existed.

I should have called my dad, I should have told him the truth—I should have told him that I wasn't going to college. Tears poured down her face as she realized the last words that she had spoken to her dad held lies in them.

Was this what it was like? When everything that you were so sure of isn't that anymore, do you feel regret and remember all the things that you had done wrong in the past? Or do you remember the times that you wished you could change? Like lying to your father, or holding back the most important words to someone that you care so much about?

I have so many things that I want to do that I can't just stay here and leave things the way that they are. I can't—her thoughts traveled down the faces that were so important to her. The ones that mattered to her.

Mark, her dad, stepmother, Rowan, jade, Kestrel, Bunny, and the new friends that she had made in Lord Thierry's mansion…. Ash.

She had to find a way out of here.

**I know that this chapter is short and I do apologize. So many things are happening here at college. I am transferring to Plymouth state University, if you attend that college I could use some more friends! **

**Any along with that I have to fill out more homework assignments and projects. lol**

**I will have another chapter out in a few days or so. **

**Till next time!**

**~Triss**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

For four days all Mary-Lynnette did was watch, and for four days all she did was listen. The times were always precise and always at an exact time. They came in five times a day, three times a day for a meal consisting only of bread with butter and a cup of water and once had been lucky for some microwavable food. Twice for her to be leashed like a dog and led to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

On the second day she had found a small nail in the medicine cabinet and on the third day she had only got through a quarter of a weak chain link before it broke from so much use. Her fingers had so many small cuts and bruises it had started to become hard to hide them. At one point Mary-Lynnette had become so desperate she dropped her glass and picked up the pieces hoping to hide her hands a bit longer.

Belladonna had come sauntering into the room, " Glass won't help you fight your way out of here little mouse. Now don't make any more of a mess then is necessary. Now behave." She had left without realizing anything and Mare had been grateful. But the female wasn't the one that she was on the fence about. It was the boy that kept standing in the doorway, his eyes picking at the pieces of glass.

"It's gotten glass all over the place, pick up the pieces so she doesn't get any stupid ideas."

Balthazar had given a curt nod and had left the room only to return, not with a broom but with tweezers and a first aid kit. When Mary-Lynnette tried to pull her hands away, his hand snakes out and pulls her left hand toward him. "It hides the smell." Was what he said before he began with the grizzly task.

Mare tried to keep from flinching as small glass shards were taken out of her hand, but she couldn't hide it well enough.

"You keep up with these stunts and you'll get yourself killed whether Hunter Redfern says so or not."

She refused to meet his eyes, "It was an accident."

"I wasn't talking about that." He pulled at her chain and her head wiped up trying and failing to hide the fear in her eyes.

"This is the second warning. There won't be a third time. Remember that." He plucked a third piece of glass from her pointer finger and tossed it into a small tin that contained the other.

None of this made any sense to her, "But why the two warnings? Why save me from her twice. You know what I am, where I come from. So why help someone on the opposite side?"

Then the corners of him mouth turned upward and for a brief moment she almost wished that she could take back what she had said. His smile was—unnerving. "Things aren't always black and white. Even human history can show that in evidence. Sometimes the side you are part of isn't by choice."

"Everything is by choice." Her words were instantaneous and sure.

He paused after placing another shard in the tin," Really? Everything is by choice, are you sure about that?" Balthazar stared at her, " Did you chose to join the nightworld? Did you choose to fall into the world of Circle Daybreak?"

There was no real answer that she could give him, "What was it that forced you to take this side then?"

"Belladonna is fascinated by what she can't have. She can spend as long as she needs to in order to get what she wants. Perhaps the chase is more fun then the actual reward for her." There was a way with his eyes. The calm before the storm raged to such an extent that there someone who be lost in the winds.

"You were a prize."

The chuckle that came out was bitter and cruel, "I wasn't even what she was truly after. I was in love with someone, a human in the 190's—we were both human. She was beautiful," He paused a moment not sure why he was even talking to her.

Mary-Lynnette sat on the bed, careful of her hands as she sat down, "I met Ash after his sister's moved in to my neighbor's house. I thought that something was fishy about the fact that my neighbor's granddaughters had showed up out of the blew and she was nowhere to be found. I was snooping in the woods when I found out what they were. Ash never told me about the nightworld his sister's did. Turns out that their family member had been killed and they weren't sure who was behind it." She laughed at the memory, "We all thought that it was Ash. His reputation at the time—well I'm sure you heard about it. We ended up solving the mystery with my old childhood friend being a werewolf. I ended up killing him his name was Jeremy. I killed him because I didn't know what else to do."

"Why did you tell me that?" The young vampire inquired.

"My story is how I became part of this. Your right I didn't chose to have this knowledge. But I did have the choice of walking away from it. And I did, for a year; I ignored the feeling in my gut and the fact that there were people that I cared about in a world that I pushed away. Ash let me because he cared about me. But I made the choice to throw myself into this mess because I thought that I could help, or at least me of some support to the person I care about."

There was a long pause, only the sound of Belladonna outside, a sport's car in the driveway humming a sweet tune as she sped off in the distance. The noise of the car broke through the stupor that the two had put themselves in.

It seemed like hours before he finally spoke. "Her name was Amelia. She gave me thoughts that things, our lives could have been better. I wanted so much for us, she saw things differently from the other girls who thought only about being a house wife and raising a family. She wanted those things, but after she had lived a life that she could one day tell the kids she'd have. I met Amelia at speakeasies, dressed to explore the world and live without care. Those dreams attracted Belladonna, because for ounce she wasn't the center of attention. Belladonna ruled the night at those clubs, but Amelia was alive, carefree. Belladonna always wanted the eye of someone she couldn't have. Belladonna played a game with her, a game that Amelia never knew about."

Balthazar paused at the window, glaring into the road as if he could still see Belladonna. "She won over al the suitors for Amelia eventually. Played off his strings in front of her until someone else came along; until I came along. I was head over heels for her. My parents, European, had been so religious that this was the name the gave me was, being my age, embarrassing. Amelia called me Bal and I loved it—I loved her. No matter what Belladonna did I was never swayed from her…." But then his voice trailed off.

He looked over at Mary-Lynnette then, the storm raging at the memoires; the sea of blue came in tidal waves that crashed with a roar. "You said that we can chose where we stand. If I was given that choice—if I had that option—I couldn't live with myself!" The words bellowed out of him.

He stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut before him, he had forgotten the first aid kit and the small trauma shears that were left behind.

Just like Hunter Redfern had said, there is more then one-way to skin a cat.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It hadn't been long after the trauma shears had been in her hands before she had already been hacking away at leather cuff bands. These were old fashion cuffs, ones that she had seen years ago…. Ones that were kept in psyche ward so that patients couldn't hurt themselves.

What would she do to the victims before me….? The quick thought sent Mary-Lynnette in a world were her stomach dropped and flashes, inhuman and beyond cruel.

I have to focus; for some reason Belladonna pushed everything into sharp and consistent time frames. She couldn't stay here in the woods for too long. Balthazar had once said that she craved the human interaction, the narcissistic glory and attention that she couldn't from being alone. Every day, as the day started to die she would leave and not come back till after the sun was already starting to shine in the sky.

She would sometimes come back with red smeared across her jacket. She would always come back, always watch her with a mocking smile and taunt her, sometimes it was about her family or Ash, sometimes it was even Circle Daybreak, "I wonder if the information that you gave Hunter Redfern is being used today, I heard that he is sending spies into the area around Thierry's mansion. I wonder who might end up dead today?" The torment was beyond cruel.

The words were childish some days, but then there were other days when the world just seemed to fall apart around her. Even if she could break through the chains it would mean nothing because her time was running out. She could only fight for so long; only keep her mind from shrinking back inside her, for safety and protection. There were so many things that were running out of time.

Minutes had turned to hours and her stomach still didn't stop lurching when there was a creek that resounded through the room. Mary-Lynnette still hadn't gotten further with her cuffs. The leather was old yet tough, the fibers rubbing at her wrists raw until they burned when her breath gently drew across them.

The hours sent watching the sun pass and trade with the moon for space in the sky had given her plenty of time to come up with something, anything of a way to escape. The safest way was to make it downstairs, out the bathroom window and, even if the hills was filled with bramble and rocks, to go down that way. At least that way she'd have a chance of escaping—maybe get to a payphone and call someone. Ash immediately jumped in her head, a feeble attempt at the cord inside her sang out a croak and then there was no response. She was too far away, it was there faint and thin, but it was still there. Yet after all that she had been through and felt she was terrified that if she pulled too hard it would break apart and be lost forever. She couldn't even imagine that, Mary-Lynnette would have been tempted to stay here then to risk that.

Tired, leaning against the bedpost, she continued to saw away at the leather; there was little to nothing in progress. The scissors had been dull for so long and with vampires strength they would hardly notice something as mundane as needing to sharpen to get new ones. Beggars can't be choosers; deal with it.

"It seems as though your absence has caused up a stir. My son and that cursed cult are starting to become more than merely thorns. What is so special about you?" Hunter had appeared in the doorway with all his glory and horror, pacing back and forth across the floor, the floor creaking caution to her. He had been like this the last time she had seen him, brief period that it was—it was still burned into her, a scar she wasn't quite sure would ever really heal.

Mary-Lynnette barely dared to breath as she pushed the scissors under her bed, quietly pushing them with her pinky finger. She was terrified, afraid for the slightest push that made this monster teeter so precautiously.

He paused, " are you going to give me an answer? Are you relishing in the fact that your one—if any of them, a handful perhaps, could have survived this long?"

What could she say—

His patience was the fuse of a bomb, dying as the flames got closer and closer. A hand swept across the small nightstand, destroying the light and welcoming in the dark. Only the moon broke through the small window near her bed.

"Vermin deserved to be weakened by the night." His voice soft and hidden by shadows, "You should destroy your hope of being found, you might survive longer that way if that is your goal. My son won't find you and, with such small life spans, you will be forgotten with time. He will find a new toy."

"Your wrong." Her voice was found, "If I die, I will find him again. Lady Hannah and Lord Thierry are proof of that. Ahs forget me and by keeping us apart will only help to destroy yourself—"

Mary-Lynnette's chain was yanked roughly, her knees scraped against the chipped metal frame, the glass cutting into her palms.

"You don't know the strength I possess!" He bellowed, "Love is a human concept—the soulmate principal a disease by humans! I have lived through time, seen and witnessed the world that you created and destroyed in one lifetime. What you think is strength is only a fatal flaw!"

His hand whipped out at her, his knuckles catching her cheek, her neck snapping back and for a brief moment she feared her neck would break.

"You truly are a remarkable animal. Not many, few, have seen this side of the Redfern line. Yet you've managed to disease my children and become an important cog to everything."

Mary-Lynnette choked on the cotton piling in her throat. "I'm not important like you think I am."

By now his composure had once more begun to take place, just as fast as it had come it had disappeared into the dark folds inside him. Her fight for control had given even more strength, "Then you don't know your value. Thierry thinks that he is ahead of the game. He doesn't think I know that Ash is hoping from club to club in hopes of getting information or even that my nephew and his made toy are going around the world to try and recruit those that have been exiled by my word? I'm watching those that are watching me. Whether you want to admit it or not, young thing, you've been a great help to me. Yes I now have names to faces that have been eluding me and almost an entire layout to Thierry's mansion that I thought was forever out of my reach. It's all because of you"

His hand reached out, tenderly over her hair causing shivers that stabbed deep insider her. " I won't give you death so easily. You've become more valuable then just merely punishing my son. No, no you'll be with us for quite sometime."

Her nightmare finally ended when the door was shut and firmly locked behind her.

Whether it was because the hidden glass scattered around glittered in the moonlight called to her or that her body screamed in pain she didn't know; but she laid where she was and surrendered to her dreams.

**Ash**

Theses days Ash barely slept, his dreams filled with nightmares and the imaginations that ran to unbelievable heights, it made him sick.

If, for a rare moment, his mind was calm enough he would try to kill time by reading through a book. Two weeks since she went missing and it had pushed to page thirty in his first book, there was a sad inkling that he'd read this same paragraph over and over for the last few days. Not that he actually knew what was going on in the story anyway.

He sighed, tonight there was no peace of mind. The guilt that ate at him refused to let his muscles relax and his head started to whirl again.

Ash chucked the book across the room giving up on the failed attempt. He was on the borderline of insanity and even with Lord Thierry keeping his end of the promise Ash knew he wouldn't be able to keep his end much longer

Every thought about the future terrified him. A life without Mary-Lynnette—years waiting for when—if—she ever returned to him. He could barely think of that. His world was a mess that was falling to pieces faster than his attempt to put everything back together again.

He had long since kept his phone off, Mark had started to threatened to fly down there himself to find out what going on. Even now a mysterious number had started to appear on his screen and he feared the worst.

A knock on the door didn't wait for an answer and Ash was half convinced Mark had come to knock some of his own teeth out when the uninvited guest stepped through the threshold.

He would have given anything for it to be Mark.

"How are you holding up?" James Rasmussen asked while setting two cups down on the small coffee table.

"No thanks." Ash didn't think he could stomach anything.

"Lady Hannah and Poppy both insisted. You haven't left his room except to feed. Gillian and Thea said it should return some of your strength back."

Begrudgingly he took a sip—a strange delicious aroma of vanilla and chai that blended together. He took another sip, long and slow, letting the warmth build back up into his limbs.

At least now I can function properly…my mind can focus on the fact that I'm jut sitting here even more.

Properly meant thinking clearly too and admitting a few things. With Mary-Lynnette lost and without being able to help his thoughts were now circling feeling and emotions—even past deeds that now disgusted him.

Ash sighed, "I'm sorry"

James choked on his tea, " for what?" he sputtered.

It seemed as if Ash's cup suddenly became an intense work of art. "For before."

There was an awkward silence filling the room as well as their minds. The feelings they both had, their own ideas and agendas that were playing out that night. For one it had been a test of ideas, if rumors that were circling around were true as well as the hope that there would be fun in it as well. For the other it had been a complete and utter nightmare.

"I realized that all the things that I am fearing now, those were the exact feelings that I gave you that night."

The silence was left to there own devices again and let themselves be enveloped by the shadows.

"No you didn't. What you did then is nothing compared to now."

James stood; watching Ash, trying to understand, comprehend the feelings and emotions welling up inside his cousin. He was already feeling the weigh of Ash's loss, dragging him into someplace he truly feared.

"for the longest time I hated you. You brought me somewhere that still takes hold of me. Because of you I worry about Poppy more than needed, that fear has become my biggest weakness. I wanted to you to experience love so that it would be ripped away. Then that way you would feel like a shell and understand all the wrongs that you were doing."

James was starting to relieve the fear—that spark that could have destroyed everything for him. His world would have ended. His hand tightened on the doorknob and a humorless laugh escaped him, "But I won't ever get that revenge. The bastard that did all that to me doesn't exist anymore. Sometimes I swear that I can still see is face, that cruel smile and soulless eyes. But he's dead. So this hell your going through is even worse than mine. All I could fear was Poppy's pain that I pray I will never have to see or even feel."

He couldn't take the feelings that were pressing onto him anymore, "Gillian places some herbs in your tea, hopefully that will help you."

Ash had already felt the herbs and couldn't stop the heaviness of his eyes and the way the small dying warmth became a blanket that enveloped him. He had only been able to catch his cousin's final words. "Your not the same person."

Then his world began to change….

**Sorry for how long it took for this latest chapter to come out. I have been so busy finding a job and moving back home because the college year is over! So in honor of the fact that I am still alive and still keeping up with the story I have written this latest chapter and have already started working on the next one. Again i am so sorry and please continue to read! **

**Till next time**

**~Triss**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It was a world made of mist, a cool and heavy world that made all his movements stiff and difficult. It seemed as if the world was fighting him, pushing him away from where he needed to be. Yet even Ash wasn't sure of where that was.

Immediately he knew this was a dream, a small meaningless spark ignited. Inside him, but it didn't last long though; instead he was left with a curious wonderment.

This world was unclear—fuzzy in everything. The further his feet carried him, deeper into the mist, the more lost he felt, uncertain. But there was something there, hiding and afraid. Something inside him pushed forward. Until there was the outline of a figure, huddled to try and sustained warmth. For a brief moment it looked as if Ash could reach out a hand and touch their shoulder and then with a blink of an eye that figure suddenly seemed so far away.

"Who are you?" he called out.

The figure raised their head, their face whipping from side to side looking for him.

"Who are you?" He tried again.

"Ash!" The voice sounded as if it would burst.

"Mary-Lynnette? Mary-Lynette!" He pushed forward, ignoring the pain and the pressures of the wind that was pressing against him. Why? What was keeping them apart? He was desperate to see her, to bury his face in her hair and holder her tight against him.

The figure—his Mare stood then, her mind, her heart spinning around trying to find him. But this fog—this world made everything so hard to see. Her heart almost broke and this world was cruel.

"I can't see you." She called back.

Mare heard Ash struggle, the fact that he wouldn't give up to find her made her heart swell. Yet it was breaking all at the same time.

"Mary-Lynnette where are you?" His voice seemed lost in the winds; unable to reach the one person he truly wanted most. He started forward, but quickly stopped, his thoughts yelling at him.

Calmer, "Tell me where you are. I'll find you."

There was a short pause, "By the lake—I can't see the water, but the stars are in the same place. It's an old house, but I couldn't get a good look at it though."

There wasn't much to go on and they both knew it, the land was wide and the lake stretched out for miles. Ash knew that they hadn't left the state, but still. "It's alright I can work with that. I'll get to you. I'll find you!"

But he couldn't say trust me. How can you tell someone that when all you could do was doubt yourself?

Mary-Lynnette's figure mingled further into the mist, her voice choking his heart. "Please—Hunter is planning something. I'm scared, I don't know when or how long I have. Please…"

The winds picked up, rushing up at him. Pushing, ripping at his clothes until there was nothing he could hold and was blown back.

There was a brief instant when the mist had cleared while the mist fought against him, he found her. Sad eyes starring at him crowded and blurred by her tears.

Ash had never seen Mary-Lynnette so broken.

The world became real again—or was this the dream?

Ash sat up, the fire had long since died and the sky was being born again. Another day was just starting, but its death would be different. There was no doubt about that.

Jacket in hand, car keys in his pocket, Ash was determined to search that lake for days if he needed. That image of Mare seared into his mind and his own stupidity for the fact that she was so close to him all this time. Yet it was far enough away for him to still never be within reach of her.

He had barely made it into the foyer before a broad hand slammed against the way cutting him off from the door.

"Move." He seethed.

'Where are you going?" His tone annoyed Ash to no end. The stare of Quinn was unbreakable.

"I'm going to find her."

Quinn looked at him, eyes barring into his, searching. "You're not thinking at all. At least find some facts before you go running off into the unknown. Here are you even going to start?"

"I'm going to the lake. She's there somewhere." Ash shoved Quinn away

"How do you know?"

"Trust me—I know."

But Quinn followed, even as Ash's voice kept rising Quinn's remained the same, his voice leveled and calm. Neither one listened to the other.

They continued their argument, pushing at one another trying to get the other to reason. One was a raging tornado and the other a silent an deadly storm that had yet to explode.

"Ash how do you know? If you even walk into Hunter's territories you think you'd find her? Let's say you did this—how would you get her out? What if she's injured or unconscious? Where are you going to start?"

"I know"

The one person neither one of them expected to stand there while fiddling with the fraying strings on his shirt; the confident cocky look had been replaced with an emotion that fit his appearance for once.

"If Mar—that human is still by the lake then I know where she is." Said Timmy.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

She liked speed, even loved it if her emotions were in the moment.

They hit another speed bump and Rashel was pretty sure that all four tires hadn't been on the ground. For a few moments her knuckles turned white on the latch above her head and her elbows were bruised as she bounced around.

She hoped Timmy was right, not just for his sake but for Mary-Lynnette's as well.

Another jolt and she was bodily thrown into Quinn who barely managed to steady her.

"I thought that you wanted to go unnoticed. Not fly in like a bat from hell!" James steadied himself on the dashboard in front of him. He was starting to rethink his decision to come.

But Ash didn't really listen, his eyes focused dead straight on the road in front of him. Rashel wasn't sure what had happened even now. It had been in the early hours, a knock on her door that she had wanted to ignore.

Quinn had been the one to get up and answer the door. The creature at the doorway waited as Quinn roused her up from sleep. Timmy had told a story that forced her eyes away from him. It was the first time that she had seen the acts that he was accused of. She had heard stories, others had come through the hallway and saw him had left as soon as they had come. But she still had never really believed hose stories could be true. His face had been covered with the fear set by Hunter Redfern.

After this though, could she ever really forgive him? She had lost her brother, she knew that she would never get back that little boy who had wanted so much to catch up to her, now she was even doubting he could even be saved.

Something soothed her fingers, a thumb that began to trace circles into her skin. Fingers intertwined and the storm inside her quieted for the moment. Such a small movement had quieted all that and she couldn't help but think if this situation had been thrown onto them. Quickly Rashel banished it from her thoughts, with things happening with Timmy she had enough to worry about.

The car jolted again and all of them were thrown into one another. "Ash I'm all for speed but don't you think we should try to be a bit more stealthy?" Quinn hissed through his teeth as his shoulder slammed into the car door.

When there was no response James decided to take a crack at it praying that something would get through. "If we keep going like this we'll be spotted for sure and everything will go to waste!"

The words were magic as the speedometer went down to speeds that could be seen with human eyes again. Cautiously all the passengers pried their fingers from each other and heaved a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry. I just—I need to get there now." Ash said this as he began to realize that the world wasn't going as fast as he wanted it to.

They all threw sympathetic glances at one another; none of them could really say anything. After all what if they were in his situation? James remembered his own, the way that he had broken all of the speed limits to reach Poppy.

I think I need to apologize to Poppy's brother one of these days if I ever see him again. James thought absently.

"Might as well stop here. We've got a little less then ten miles between them and us now. Going by foot might be the best way we can reach the hide out without getting noticed." Rashel's cool demeanor radiated through them, even a bit of Ash who had pushed away most reasoning. They decided to listen to her without really any questions.

At the moment they were in unknown territory, without really any plan, and no one had told Lord Thierry where they were going. All in all, they came without backup and no one knew where they were. There would be no help if things got out of hand. Ash was fine with that; his thoughts were only focused on what lay ahead, the bones he would break and the power that he would show if there was a single scratch on her skin. But the others wouldn't let him; they wouldn't let him anywhere near a car or mode of transportation unless they came with him, making him promise that they would all stay together. He had no choice.

They all knew from example, when a loved one was in danger, whether it small or on the verge of death, there was no rational thinking, only a need. Ash had already passed that fine line.

They had been hiking an hour, after the sun had already been at its highest point. They all had fear in the back of their minds. What if Timmy hadn't been telling the truth? The evidence had seemed plausible because both Ash and Timmy had said similar locations. Neither could point out exacts, but they were both sure that the hideout was still by the lake. But after walking for so long without seeing any sign or evidence that there were others here they were all starting to doubt, but no one said anything. None of them wanted to be the first to admit that all of this had been for nothing, that this had all been a wild goose chase. They were afraid to admit if it was anything more.

Rashel, the least patient of them all was about to say something when she saw Ash come to a sudden halt, his muscles tense and his head snapped to the right and then she saw it.

There were tears in his eyes.

**Mary-Lynnette**

If she could she would have slept forever let herself wander in the world that was mist. Perhaps there she would be able to get the chance to see him again. Even if she waited for a long time and saw his face from time to time it didn't really matter to her. It was better then where she was now, trapped alone, scared and cold. Here the wounds all disappeared, the throbbing pain had been replaced with a kind and gentle numbing. She had felt better then she had in what seemed like such a long time.

But then it happened. This jolt, as if something had reconnected with her. Something inside her snap taunt, tugging and pulling at her. It wanted her to wake up, to start moving again and to leave the land of mist. It was saying to her, "I'm here"

The urge fought with her, form the part of her that wanted to stay to the part that yearned for something that she had started to forget. But to stay here meant that this was a chance to see his face.

That face…his name…kind and gentle. A feeling of complete safety washed over her whenever she was near him. She didn't feel that way now.

His name…

Something tugged at her, it needed her to wake up and find him. Staying here and waiting for him wasn't going to change anything. If I give up this chance to see him once and a while is it worth risking so that I could to be with him? It may not even work, the world she came from had her trapped. Bound together in leather straps with cuts all along her body.

Yet the yearning kept pushing her, it kept saying, "I'm here now." Who was here? What was his name?

He had ever changing eyes, ones that filled with brightness whenever he looked down at her, his hair had turned sandy over the year and half she had known him, no longer bright like the sun high in the sky, out of her reach, but sandy and earthy, where she was. If her fingers brushed against his skin she could feel the lean hard muscles that grew at her touch, a promise that they would always protect her. His smile, though, was what was always made her heart flutter, feel as if she was the most beautiful creature that ever walked, his eyes never left hers or broke promises. They said that they would be there for her. He was waiting for her.

Ash…

For a moment her lungs forgot to fill themselves with air, the force of the mist swirled around her, pulling her away from the world that had been created. It was breaking apart, crumbling under her bare feet.

But she was calm, there wasn't this fluttering panic, the air started to grow more gentle, her lungs started to work again when the last few pieces of ground broke from under her and she fell into the darkness.

What she felt first was the pain, there was never that free falling moment where your stomach starts to fly on its own. There was only the raw scratchy pain and the smell of metal. Body protesting, she sat up carefully afraid to see how her body really looked as the sun started to hit the room.

As her arms pulled her up, there was a clink as the chains fell to the floor. She could barely piece together anything that was going on around her. All she knew was that she woke up, because someone was here, someone was calling out to her. Now that chains were off—the ones that she had painstakingly tried to hack through for days were now in shambles on the floor. "How?"

"It seems as though in his rage Redfern broke your chains. Irresponsible of him." A man—Balthazar stood, leaning in the doorway. Again his face never tells anything of what he is thinking. "That creature never was one for common sense."

She couldn't really think, everything was happening too fast. There was a feeling deep in her chest, wanting to pull her in a far direction. He didn't wait for her either; he walked into the room, the glass crunching on his feet, absently kicking away the chains. He didn't look down at them. Balthazar cleared away the dish that had somehow managed to survive the incident from last night, placed the cup onto and gazed at her sideways. "Belladonna's in town at the moment. Trying to see what other human she can have fun with. You'll have about an hours worth of piece. Make the most of it if I were you. Hunter gave you life, he didn't clarify how far she's allowed to push at it."

Then he walked away, as if it were any other morning; a pair of trauma scissors sticking out of his pocket.

"Thank you" She said.

Balthazar paused only for a moment, "Make use of the time you have. I doubt you will have this opportunity again. I need to fix the window in the bathroom, if you need to use it use it now."

Their eyes met only for the briefest moment and before he shut the door Balthazar could have sworn that there was a spark in her, one that was so much like Amelia. It was as if she was there at that moment, telling him that he was doing the right thing. Sadly he had forgotten how to smile.

When the door closed she only paused a moment before her heart gave another jolt. The name pouring into her, filling her, "Ash" The memoires pouring over her, into her. Tears filled her vision, yet she wasn't sure if it was because she was sad or filled with happiness.

I can't keep mopping around here, doesn't do me any good!

Whether Balthazar would have ever admitted it to her or not he had helped her. The plans that had been formed, perfected, and discarded in her thoughts were now able to come to play. They all started the same, the bathroom window.

Mary-Lynnette remembered all the times that she had spent there, analyzing all the nooks and crevices of the all the rooms she had been allowed in, hoping for something. The bathroom window had been the best choice. The window was stuck shut, but after many trips and an old rusty nail file she'd been able to hack away at the bits and pieces that kept it shut. The roof pulled out from under the window and down to another. The last part was a drop, but if she would make it to the old gate vines along the house she was confident that she could make it.

I can't let Ash get to close to this place. Her fears of Hunter Redfern and Belladonna were enough to push her forward through the window, the raw skin of her knees scrapping against the old chipped paint.

Toes clinging at the grate, she inched her way along, praying the whole time, a mantra in her head. Don't look down. The small pins that crawled up her legs were pushed down as she made her way over. Slowly and quietly she made her way from one part of the roof too another. Finally she was able to jump down and the cool grass that cushioned her feet sang as if welcoming her back into the world. She ran.

With her heart panicking and the slow way that she crawled across the roof she had no idea whether it had only been a few minutes or almost a whole hour for her to make it across. But this was her only chance, there was no way that she could blow it. Mary-Lynnette followed her heart and plunged into the woods without ever stopping.

Ash was so close; she wouldn't stop until she was there, in the warm protection of him. She would make it.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The brambles tugged at her shirt, and the weeds clawed at her shorts, but she dared not stop. Her breathing had grown shallow as her body grew weaker, her muscles tightening after barely being used for so long. They were now passed their limits. She had already long ago gotten in second and even third wind. She doubted that there was enough of a miracle for her to have another. Whether she wanted to or not she knew that she would have to stop soon.

Mary-Lynnette kept quiet, never speaking, never calling out for someone. She was terrified to be found by any one other then Ash. Sadly in this world, vampires weren't the only things that were dangerous. But it was daytime, most creatures were hidden in their caves until the shadows came out and beckoned to them. She had hours before that happened.

The sun had already reached its highest point in the sky, starting to decline as its life was at the middle of its span. There was still a good amount of time before the sun would leave. She would have to make the most of it.

By now she was sure that Belladonna had already returned back to the cabin and found that she wasn't there anymore. The fear of her anger made her push on even more. But her thoughts couldn't help but stray to the one confusing thing that she had left behind.

I hope that Balthazar is all right. The last time that Belladonna had witnessed a part of his gentle behavior she had chained the poor thing up to the wall right outside of Mary-Lynnette's room. They had both spent the night fighting their own fears, hoping for the sun to come up. He choked on breath for hours before she unchained him and laughed as he stumbled down the stairs into the woods, they all were left to hear the final scream of a poor animal that had been caught by a dying creature.

If I managed to get out of here alive I'll head back there and get him. He deserves a chance to forget the cruelty of all those years. Maybe being with Lord Thierry he would have his own chance at making amends for his past. Like Ash—

The quick thought made her stomach wrench slightly. It was killing Mare inside to know that he was so close, but not sure how close. The cord that connected them told the other they were cost, but not how far away or how long it would take to be reunited. All the time that Mary-Lynnette and Ash had spent together had made them discover that the cord that connected them grew longer, they could go further distances and still feel one another.

She felt him, their heartbeats already beginning to sync again with one another, but how long would it be before she saw his face again? The girl had no other choice but to push forward.

The birds had already started to midday's calls, beckoning to one another, singing. It was the one small comfort that she allowed herself to have pleasure in. But she dared not rest. Her feet were screaming and the world just didn't seem to move fast enough.

There was no time for her, there was noting but the and she was starting to feel that things weren't going to be ok. There was only a faint reassurance that she was heading in the right direction at all. Even bigger doubts that this was all her mind playing the cruelest prank possible with her, yet she kept on moving.

But she had blown through all the winds her body had possessed and even some that she hadn't. Mare fell against the large rocks that build up a side mountain; the cool stone was relief against her skin, which she was sure, was sticky and stinging from the many cuts that had patched themselves on her. Whether she wanted to or not her body was crashing again. Her eyes wouldn't cooperate, the taste of a safer sleep then she had, had in such a long time had taken over and her eyes shut. Pulling away into someplace that was warm and filled with the one person in the world that could make her feel safe.

What woke her was the unbalanced movement, the small stumbles and the cursing under his breath. Mary-Lynnette groaned as her head began to pound, sleep was already such a wonderful thing that she couldn't keep. I'm really tired of this whole weak act. But her body was in no mood to argue with.

"Can you finally walk or do I have to continue to carry you?"

The poor girl squinted as her eyes burned from the sun, "Balthazar?" She croaked.

The vampire unceremoniously deposited her on a nearby rotted out log. He tossed her a small water bottle, "It seems as though you've given me an opportunity. One little window that I have been looking for and your it."

Mare could barely manage to swallow the small amount of water her throat was so dry. "What?"

"You've been gone for four hours and you have earned Belladonna the opportunity to play cat and mouse in a whole other playing field. I've given us maybe an hour at most before she'll find us—if I hadn't found you then you would have already been dead. So when you can walk again we need to get a move on."

She could only stomach one more sip before they set about walking again. There was no chivalry in his act, he kept ahead of her, looking over his shoulder occasionally and pushing her to keep moving.

Her tired her mind refused to let anything she was thinking be pushed to stay behind her lips.

"You keep helping me." Mary-Lynnette stated.

"You keep playing as the pawn in my game. Do not think that you are anything more. It will get you killed."

She stopped making Balthazar turn back to look at her, "I didn't. You did."

"You are a very stranger human. Do you realize that?"

For a moment she gave the ghost of a real smile on her lips, "I've been told that before. " Then disappeared again just as the ghost it was, " You never finished your story."

There were only the birds to answer her. They kept singing songs, oblivious to the scene that was playing before them. The vampire started walking this time never looking back. For a moment she thought that she would just stay there or walk in another direction. But what he said before, of Belladonna and how she was out for blood.

My best chance is to stay with him. There was something about him, something that reminded her of Ash. Maybe it was that reason she followed him through the remains of the forest. By now the pain had become dull in her feet, the twigs no longer stung or pinched. However she wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Where did I leave off last time?" Balthazar said.

"She had become Jealous of you and Amelia."

A dry laugh, "I ended it right before the best part?" He sighed looking ahead, "Amelia wasn't only filled with imagination and dreams; somewhere in all those wants and wishes there was a caring side. That girl was able to show compassion, in those days when everyone was carefree and happy, but they hide themselves with music and drink.

Some were worse then others…myself included. My parents had immigrated to the states in hopes of brighter futures and instead found that there was only destitute. To escape them I found those speakeasies and lost myself in their world. It was a drug, addicting and new. New faces and they all seemed to welcome me. Even then if I hadn't I would have never met her at a place named Forget-Me-Not, a doll among dogs. As we grew closer all she wanted was to make me happy. And she tried, always every night I came to help me. Wanted me clean.

It was my weakness that destroyed everything. I was starting to get cleaned up, I was rarely ever waking up without remembering after I met her. Things were better I didn't care about anything else. Nothing but her mattered and it showed to all others. Other girls stopped flirting with me; court me, all but one. That was Belladonna—there was something about her that I made me wary, a primal animal that was about her. There was no gentleness in her and in that time that was all I wanted. But Belladonna never knew that there was nothing she couldn't have.

For a while I didn't see her, she started to become friends with Amelia, hung out with her more and more. Soon she had spilled all her secrets to that monster and even of me. I just didn't know the real danger truth could have.

Finally one night Belladonna pulled me aside saying that one of the men who pined for Amelia had cornered her at her apartment and had locked them in. I rushed over, never once thought of anything else. "

For the first time in his story he paused, his memories choking him, "When we at Amelia's apartment she attacked me. Began the process and I couldn't tell days from minutes. Somehow I found myself in another room, some place I didn't know. I barely was able to managed anything or think. There were voices, Belladonna saying that I needed help, that she needed Amelia… I remember a warm hand, soft and gentle. I knew that hand.

Amelia watched over me. Never listening to my warnings that I tried to tell her. Belladonna had told her I was relapsing, my body was fighting me but not in the way she thought.

Belladonna kept me from feeding, I craved it and I fought it. But she was there with me, warmth that I couldn't escape. Life I wanted and couldn't have. Until finally a day after I rose—I couldn't last more then that—she was there….I couldn't remember anything and when I did….my shirt had been stained red and the things around me where shattered and broken, but it was those eyes. The ones that hypnotized me had become filled with such betrayal.

I had killed the one person that meant more to me then even my own life. Yet I sacrificed her to stop my pain. Belladonna had turned me into a monster that I had never wanted to become. With all that I did the only thing Belladonna ever gave me was a reason to live."

Balthazar looked back at Mary-Lynnette and for once the storm in his eyes were calming, but perhaps for a brief moment it was only the eye of the storm. "If I lived as a monster then I could keep what was still human in me from the sins that I had done. She had one and in the world of this nightmare you are indebted to the one that turns you. I have been her slave since then. I have been ever since then"

Then he continued his walk. Mary-Lynnette rushed forward, not sure of what to make of his story. What was there to say? Was there anything to say to comfort him, to even understand something like this?

There were others though, like Lord Thierry who could relate. There were old souls, much like Hannah, who had died and been brought back. Did he know that? Perhaps she was here again, waiting for him.

Her hand reached out to get him to turn around, to look at her.

"Oh what a touching heart felt story. But I must say, you perhaps played out the villain a little under par allow me to correct that!" Belladonna burst through the trees and thrust her arm forward.

Mary-Lynnette's screams echoed through the wood.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

"NO!" The word that tore through everything was caught between a sob and scream, cutting through until even the birds went silent.

Belladonna had taken a simple thick branch and made it into a lethal weapon and impaled it into the vampire's shoulder. He withered in pain as she twisted the wood painfully in his shoulder. "Well you finally earn some balls didn't you? Too bad it was at the wrong time." She pushed it further into his shoulder for good measure before finally pushing him away as if he were nothing but garbage.

"What a brilliant story you played out there. The tragic hero in an epic story, you truly cast the villain well Balthazar. Perhaps a bit overplayed though, after all you forgot to say that love of your life was part of a club in the nightworld. A human that let other vampires feed on her in order to obtain money. Either way, whether human or nightworld clients, she was a whore!" She laughed as the words poured out, poison etching into the young man's face.

The monster stood over laughing at the pitiful thing before her, "What did you think? Did you actually believe that you could save this human? Out smart me and finally atone for all your sins? I'm curious to find out. Can't you share with me?"

She taunted him, basking in the pain that was radiating through his whole system. That was her problem, the arrogance that one was here was stronger then her, that fear kept her ahead of the game. Her focus was so strewn on Balthazar she didn't pay attention to the girl who crept closer then, rough would in her hand and swung.

Mary-Lynnette swung with all her might connecting the thick heavy branch with the vampire's head with a sickening crunch. "Bitch"

Belladonna went down, a small dark pool already spilling into the blonde hair. Mare tossed the branch aside and struggled to pull Balthazar up. He came up strained and held him up as they began to walk away from the scene and slowly the unconscious evil had disappeared from view.

"You're an idiot" He wheezed.

"Not the first time I've heard that. I'm hoping it's not the last either. Ash is close, if we could just get to him then everything will be all right."

The poison of the wood was already beginning to set in as they struggle through the wood. "How do you know he's even here?"

"I feel him, he's close." There was no denying that, the pulse in her heart began to speed faster with very step that brought her closer. The energy that had left was slowly coming back building up, Ash was near. "I'm positive."

"Well then you better start looking for him." Quicker then she thought it was possible he fell away and shoved her down through the trees and into the air below.

**Ash**

He hadn't stopped running, not since the scream that shattered everything inside him. It was Mary-Lynnette; there was no mistaking it. Despite what the others had said he had run off not caring if they kept up with him or not. Every time that she had needed him he hadn't been there for her, her graduation he had shown up for the last part and then everything that had happened with Jeremy…. She always had to deal with it all by herself. Ash was determined to be there for her in the end. He wasn't going to leave her by again.

It seemed years had gone by before he finally heard something—a voice, breathing. And movement. His heart sped up even more but there it wasn't her. She wasn't here.

In the years that he had lived and seen never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would see the vampire before him. Ash Redfern watched as Balthazar struggled, a bloody branch impaled in his side.

Cautiously he stepped out into the clearing, every part of him was screaming for him to ignore everything but finding her. But he remembered Balthazar, from the old parties that his father had made him attend and the clubs that were held for those that ranked high nightworlders. All that he had been was a lap dog and servant of a vampire that even Maya (See nightworld volume 3) had held at an equal level in her eyes.

His muscles tightened, ready in case anything were to happen, a sudden attack. In a strange small way Ash was hoping for that, for a move to provoke him. There was anger that was built up in him, pushing him into a blinding rage that he was afraid he couldn't control much longer.

Balthazar turned toward him, the pain clearly etched in his face. Ash could now she that there wasn't only a wound in his side but in his shoulder as well. The blood loss was strong and the stench of the poisoning wood seeping through him. He reeked of death.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." He breathed.

"Oh really?" Ash said.

"Yeah, the knight in shinning armor comes to rescue the fair maiden. Right?" Balthazar struggled to lean against a rock, his eyes growing heavy, his words barely above a whisper, " Well then you better hurry. Belladonna's found a new toy and she has too much fun with her, to let that girl go is something she isn't planning on doing. Follow the river, I…I stalled her but I didn't give her much time… As you can see she was the winner…" His breathing grew shallow, "Get going and be the hero."

There were things that Ash wanted to say, questions that he needed to ask and even answer. How he already seemed to know everything. "Why," was all he could manage.

For a moment Ash could swear that there was a flicker of anguish, it had nothing to do with the pain that had throbbed in him now. It was an older pain, one that he carried for years. "Cause her knight should be the one to save her."

There was no second bidding from him, that silver cord inside him was tugging, calling out with urgent care. There were still so many questions, but he let them go for now. "I have friends that are following behind me. I didn't wait for them but they'll be here soon. Can you wait that long?"

Balthazar barely managed to laugh, "Just hurry up before you lose her."

"I'm not losing her." Ash ran off into the woods, following the ravine that would lead him to the only one in this world would truly understood him.

**Mary-Lynnette**

"Belladonna is right behind us, hurry up and get going!" Balthazar hissed out.

Mare had sat in the water, confused and shaken by the sudden drop into the river, completely soaked. "Your in no condition to take her on! We should stick together! Come one, Balthazar come on!"

The vampire staggered up, posed for a fight. "You want to find that Ash guy you're always talking about? Then you better get going. I'll catch up to you later." But she still wasn't convinced, "I promise"

That didn't help anything either though. They both knew that there was no way that he could make it. Staying here wasn't going to help anyone. "I'll come back for you. That's a promise"

Balthazar smiled then, "Well I'll hold you too it."

But neither of them was sure if that was even possible. Still she ran.

Mary-Lynnette followed the river as far as she could, afraid to splash the water and make even more noise, ran along the side, scrambling over the broken and damp wood and leaves. Her mind was riddle with confusing turns and sounds. She panicked when a new sound crashed through into her thoughts.

Instinct told her keep moving, don't stop. The feeling that predator was closing in on prey. She pushed herself until she was finally able to hear the faint sound of cars, of life that was just a little further through the trees. Her mind was so clouded by the fear and spin of everything she could barely manage to function. Ash was here somewhere, but searching for him, going in circles could make everything worse.

The only thing I can do right now is get to other people, hopefully with a phone or at least a place to feel safer that way she could contact Ash and hopefully end this whole nightmare.

One foot at a time moved her through the water; the cool and fresh feeling on her skin was refreshing and soothing, coaxing her along, an encouragement. Then it pulled at her, tugging her away and growing stronger. It seemed as though the current was trying to save her from the monster that walked out into the light, the dark of red staining golden hair. The smile that usually played on her stone face was no longer there, a straight line and all the entertainment that had been built up over that time was gone and replaced.

"Well I must say I haven't had this much entertainment in such a long time. You somehow manage to anger Hunter Redfern on a personal level, manage to escape our grasp twice being human, and as well as manage to spark some balls into that servant of mine. But things are starting to get old. Unless you start to amuse me again I need to start to look for a new toy. Do you know what that means?"

Belladonna started toward her and instinct made her back up, all of a sudden the height didn't seem so bad anymore. "Do you know what that means?" She repeated, "It means that I can start breaking you in. It means that I will make you retreat so far into your mind you'll never be able to crawl your way back out. An experiment for Hunter Redfern as well as a blood bank, in the simplest terms a blood whore for him. Now its you choice to either like a good pet or to make things interesting."

Mary-Lynnette by instinct began to back away, still listening as the vampire continued to talk noting the fact that the fear was building up in her chest and she couldn't control it.

"I've already alerted Hunter Redfern about this mishap and I'll warn you he is not nearly as fascinated as I am. SO even if by some miracle you managed to find a way safe from me or these woods you won't be so lucky when running from the head of all the nightworld."

Belladonna started forward, anticipating the prey and predator's simplest reaction, the inevitable chase. "Want my advice? If you want to live longer I would suggest cooperating with me. With Hunter you can never guarantee another day."

The girl pushed herself further away, her locked on the creature in front of her. For another flash of silence she had no answer until her foot stumbled over the river swept into her. A chance.

"It's a very rare thing that I give out a chance for a choice. What's it going to be?"

Mare waited only a hair's breath, "I choose **neither**!" And dove into the water, her fingers curling into the chance she had and swung upward toward Belladonna.

Again there was once more a sickening crack against her temple, a stumble from the vampire, but this time she fall down and stay down. She picked herself back up quickly; any trace of a smile had been destroyed and replaced with the cracked mask of her real self. "I must say you're the only human to actual make me bleed, let alone twice. But I can assure that there won't be a third time."

Belladonna's fingers wrapped around her throat, barely pushing any pressure, yet, "well unfortunately for Hunter Redfern you seemed to have flung yourself into the river and drowned yourself in the rapids then let yourself be taken back and face him"

With that her fingers tightened on soft flesh and pushed backward into the cooling water that welcome them with open arms. Mary-Lynnette lost grip on the stick her fingers scrambling over rock as water succumbed her vision. It seeped in through in little by little no matter how tight she shut her eyes. Her limbs flared up, tasting the air and the breeze wishing that there was something solid to pull herself up with. A cruel taunt when the blankets of the water started to enfold on her, blackness blotting everything and water choking her through her ears and nose. It edged itself into her forcing itself inside her and Mare had such a deep urge to push it all out, but the breath she kept inside her was precious. What had been a seemingly soothing friend was now a suffering killer that found purchase in anyway to steal her away from Ash.

The current that still tugged and pulled at them, the fingers around her neck were relentless and tightened cruelly as small air bubbles escaped from her lips, muffled the words from above the surface. Mare couldn't make sense of the world anymore, her fingers were pressing into the mud, the blades of her fingers scrapping against wood.

_Ash….Ash where are you…? _

Her fingers curled desperately over something, the rough texture was no longer identifiable to her brain anymore. Things were going blank.

One last chance….

_Ash….I'm…_

…_.sorry…_

**Sorry that it took so long for me to post another chapter! I had such bad writer's block that my brain just didn't want to cooperate. I wanted to write more for this chapter but two things tugged at me.**

**I knew that so many of you guys were waiting for me to post another chapter that I felt like I should post what I have**

**I didn't want to put too much in one chapter without the whole scene sinking it. **

…**I'm also just a very cruel sinker. ;-)**

**But the next chapter you won't have to wait nearly as long, I promise. Expect it in the next few days! Promise!**

**~Triss**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The river wound its way through the woods and already her presence there seemed to scream at him. Even when his mind was solely focused on the one thing in the world that mattered most to him his nature, the predator inside him, was noticing the damaged patterns of the forest, the broken twigs and crushed leaves, the sharp and sweet smell of the thorns that had scratched against her skin.

Her skin, his Mary-Lynnette, pricked and scarred by his own father, his own family. Blood…the thing that times him to a cruel monster and the one thing that sustained the life that kept him going. Yet at this moment it was the one thing that he truly feared of most in this world at the moment. For each fresh new stain and scent his heart seemed to skip another bet, his stomach coil in knots and a fresh new fear that gripped at him. Ash kept wondering about whether his nightmares were about to come true that day. But the cord inside him was still strong and vibrant, even though it hummed with warning and fear. The others he had left behind because everyone and everything around him seemed so slow and yet kept slipping out of his grasp. He felt that he couldn't take anymore with his emotions being torn apart to shreds, Ash knew his heart wasn't nearly as strong as the man who had lost his soulmate more then once and waited for each lifetime.

Ash felt he was getting closer to her, the cord tighten and humming quicker as he ran even faster. The water splash around his legs soaking into his jeans making them thicker and heavier, weighing him down preventing him from reaching her even faster.

It seemed forever before he burst out into a clearing, the small river that he had followed led him to this one, larger and more powerful. For the first time since the scream that ripped through his whole being he stopped unsure of his next move. He had hoped that by following the river she would find her, undamaged and unhurt. But the clues held no truth in that. Instead all he found was a vast space—

The cord hummed louder then it had in a long time, finally an arrow, clear and strong pointing the way toward the one thing that could make the world better and brighter for himself.

He gazed over in that direction, already beginning to sprint forward. The vise on his heart already beginning to loosen, instead it was fear. The words of Balthazar playing back in his head, he wasn't the only one that was seeking Mary-Lynnette. But who had gotten there first?

His answer came sooner then he would have thought possible as the slosh of water became louder and louder. A figure, weak and dirty, limped across the river. That look of determination and the look of something who was trying so hard to stay strong. So lost in determination and survival that she hadn't noticed him until he called out to her. "Mary-Lynnette!"

Ash watched the girl freeze, the stone that had formed around her already crumbling. A flash of disbelief crossing over her, she couldn't believe that he was there. The silver cord that attached them together sang out by the sear bliss of being near each other once again, the knowledge that there were going to be together and there would be a long time before they were separated again.

And suddenly they were running toward one another, Mare barely managing to stand before finally falling back into the river with a splash. But it didn't matter not even moments after she fell, sitting in the water did he wrap his arms around her, pulling her back into the safety of his arms vowing to himself that he would never let her out of his sight again.

Mary-Lynnette grabbed at his shirt, tugging at him, grasping at him to be closer by any means necessary and he embraced that complying with her until he stumbled backward himself, tripping over a branch or stone, or something. He didn't even know what; his thoughts were solely on the girl in front of him who seemed so fragile. They fell into the water, one arm barely managing to hold them up and the other wrapped around her. Ash was acutely aware of her face, buried in his neck and her breath warming his skin against the chilling breeze on his damp skin. He pulled her all the more closer, wanting to warp himself around her and never let go and she responded to him by pressing into him even more. For all the stress and tears, the fear and gripping pain, it was all worth it for this, for her.

"You came, you're here." She choked out, coughing and racking her body.

Ash pulled away to look at her, the wounds and cuts that savaged themselves over her body and saw the rust color that stood out against what had once been a white tank and shuddered, alarmed. "Mare, the blood! Where—who—what—"

"It's not mine." She cut him off and stared down at his shirt, her fingers tightening until even the blue in them disappeared, "It's not mine."

_Again. _The voice in his head hissed harsh and cruel, again she was forced to do something that killed another small part of her, which changed her. It was his fault.

_Again _she fought alone and he was useless. Sorry wasn't going to work this time, not for him and Ash didn't think that it would help nearly as much as it seemed to the last time. Even now he wondered if that sorry was only a Band-Aid that only covered up everything. But he said them anyway because that was all he could say, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." And pulled her closer, tucking her head under his chin and held her tight until they fell, the small salty trails on her cheeks and the sounds that racked her body. He rocked her carefully of her as if she were glass; she was already so cracked and splintered at the moment he was terrified of what was going to happen to her. His fingers smoothed her hair, feeling the small shards of glass and the dirt and leaves, his angered flared up. As she sat their crying his mind was tormenting him with the reminders of her wounds and cuts. Her hair, immediately her hair barely brushed over his fingers tips as he cradled her neck and felt the sadness of it all welling up in him. The emotions were flaring up inside and fought with one another. He didn't know that it was even possible for this many feelings to well up and flare all at once. Happy that she was safe in his arms, terrified of what his own father would do next, the horror of everything she had been through, nervous…anxious…. upset. He didn't know that it was even possible to feel all this at once. His emotions were on overload.

Mary-Lynnette moved back slightly, his shirt still bundled up in her hands and stared up at him, "You really came." She whispered, "I felt you, it was because of you that I climbed out that window and ran. I wanted to find you."

His thumb brushed away her tears, his fingers curling over her cheeks and then pushing her hair behind her ears. "I would never stop looking for you. I'd search for you, for your soul until you were back with me. You understand that?"

She nodded and he choked out, "Your hair." Because he couldn't help but say it and because he didn't know what else to say to her; her beautiful hair that he had untangled with his fingers and that had been pinned up in such a breath taking way a life time ago was now hacked away leaving her neck bare and chilled against the air.

Ash felt her stiffen, her muscles tense and a look that came in her eyes. Her fingers brushed themselves almost absently against her neck and suddenly pushed herself back into his chest, her head back under his neck, "You're here." Was all she said.

The sound of splashing brought them out of their little world a voice sharp and alert cut out through it all, "Ash!" Rashel came hurry up, amazement etched into her face. "You found her!"

They both helped her up, Ash watching with a sick pit in his stomach as she swayed on her feet, leaning against him for support. With him there and the fact that she felt safe and secure she felt that her strength was already leaving her, her body shutting down wanting to sleep, to disappear, all as long as he was there with her.

"Ash, we have to get moving. We've already run into a few shifters and other vampires. If we don't leave soon we won't be able to at all." Rashel paused a moment looking down at the figure who was all but falling back down into the water and shed her jacket, wrapping it around the girl, "She's already crashing."

But Rashel didn't say the words, if Mary-Lynnette completely lost consciousness then she would be the liability that kept them all here and all trapped. Trapped by Hunter Redfern was something that Rashel would rather avoid. Ash gave a curt nod and picked Mary-Lynnette up before she could protest and started to back track to his car.

But neither Ash nor Rashel could over look the figure that bobbed a little away, the water around it turning to a light pink over that disappeared with the current. The only reason the creature didn't flow with the current and be carried off was the sharp branch that protruded from the upper torso was caught between stones and her blonde hair danced in the water. Rashel couldn't help but admired the girl who through everything had survived on her own while Ash gripped with himself about how much of her innocence had been killed just by being around him. It made him sick.

"Wait… we have to….we have to get… I promised him…. Balthazar…." She mumbled the words as they pushed through the woods, too tired to even stall them to listen.

"We found him, don't worry. James took him back to the car and called ahead to Lord Thierry."

Ash paused a moment, a frown on his face, "Why did you call Lord Thierry? He didn't even know—"

"There wasn't going to be enough room in your car Ash. We didn't plan on picking up an extra passenger let alone a dy—a wounded one." Rashel peered over at the girl, but she didn't seem to take any notice. The girl was already wrapped up in sleep.

Ash grimaced, he knew that he would have to deal with Lord Thierry when they had arrived back at the mansion; he was just hoping that it wouldn't be this soon. But Rashel was right, the vampire had already lost too much blood and the poison of the wood was already eating away at him, there wouldn't have been enough room for them all. In an area like this, it wasn't safe to leave anyone behind.

"So Quinn?"

Rashel was a little further up ahead, listening and waiting for anything to jump out at them. She was the only one with free hands at the moment; Ash was full with Mary-Lynnette in his arms. A big target, "Quinn's still here. He wouldn't leave and is already heading toward the new meeting point. I don't think we'll be there long. James made the call before he even started back with Balthazar to the car. As long as we get to the meeting point we should be fine." She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "then you can deal with Lord Thierry about this whole little adventure that you put us all through."

He shrugged through, looking down at the most amazing thing in this world, "It was worth it though."

"Yes it was." She said.

**So did I keep my promise? Thank god I got to this point. I actually really loved writing out this scene, it's been playing in my head for so long and I was going crazy because I thought that before I could finish the chapter I would lose it all and never be able to write down what I really wanted!**

**But I did it and I hope that you like it! And this is not the end, not even close. There is so much more planned out, not only for Mary-Lynnette and Ash but for the others that fight for circle daybreak…**

**And even some that don't. **

**Anyway, till next time!**

**~Triss**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Rashel was exhausted; the two days back had been anything but calm. Lord Thierry had been in a torrent, demanding everything and everything from all of them. They had said that same thing though, they weren't going to leave Ash and let him do something reckless. Thank the Goddess for Lady Hannah, if it wasn't for her then none would have gotten any sleep, even Thierry himself, everyone that is except for one.

The moment they had arrived Ash had never once left her side, James had been reduced to grabbing blood bags and dropping them off at the door. Healers had been passing in and out of the those doors for two days without any news about Mary-Lynnette, whenever she or any of the others would ask they would all shake their heads saying that it was too early to tell. Two weeks of damage had reduced to a sleeping corpse. That was all she was able to do, either sleep or barely managing to grasp reality.

She looked down at the _Get-well _teddy bear and grimaced, this is was not her strongest suit, and if anything it was one of her weakest. Rashel sighed, frustrated because there really wasn't anything that she could do and it was something that she wasn't accustomed to.

Rashel was wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost tripped over Timmy who sat by the door without talking or acknowledging anyone. There were times when no one realized he was even there.

At the sight of Rashel though he got up and walked away, neither glancing at her nor saying a single word. All she could do was stare down at the bear hoping it would just work out. There was too much going on and frankly she wasn't good at any of this.

There was this warmth, soothing gentle warmth that enveloped her. It didn't take away the smell of incense that floated up and the creams that were wrapped up in bandages.

But it didn't matter, there was a strong hand gripping hers. A cool breathe that brushed her hair over her forehead. Mary-Lynnette opened her eyes to the safety of caressing sheets and the hand of Ash who had fallen asleep in a chair by the bed. She had slept the days away, yet her eyes always managed to find him. He was always somewhere in the room waiting and worrying about her. He was there.

Even with vampire strength and the stamina of a beast even she could see the circles under his eyes, the basic tides of upkeep had left and withered away to a t shirt jeans and hair that was a tornado from sleepless days. Blood bags wee scattered around a garbage pail not far off leaving a faint scent of metal and rust hidden under the gauze and glue on her arms. The lightest sleeper in the world was easily to escape.

Mary-Lynnette couldn't get control over her legs; they wobbled under her weight, a newborn infant that was still learning how to walk. Everything was dark, the room filled with a heavy silence she wasn't ready to break. It was where she was able to hide away from the world. Her fingers fumbled over sidewall until she was able to find the light switch and bring cast shadows into the corners of the bathroom.

I just need to see….

It seemed like every step screamed to stay away, there was something inside that seemed to know that truth but she just wasn't ready to accept it. Fingers curled around the sink's rim, knuckles turned white and with a deep breath found her staring back. It wasn't her.

It's not me, can't be me.

Whoever this was seemed gaunt and broken, her eyes lifeless and dead, she looked like someone that should have been locked away for their own safety. This wasn't the Mary-Lynnette she had known for so long, the one that stared back at her in the mirror that one that reigned confidence when she felt she had none. This one was just broken.

Fingers managed to detach themselves from the rim to graze against her skin. There was something there; she could feel it even now. She only needed to brush her skin before she felt it, a hot angry burn along her flesh. "I'll leave you a reminder of me."

Her hair couldn't hide it, instead brushed against it as a constant voice that yelled at her; two punctured holes were puckered surrounded by blood spots under the skin, this was a branding something that would have to stay for weeks before finally leaving no visible trace. What about after that? Would the feeling go away just like the wounds or would those stay longer? How much longer?

Panic gripped at her could she live with it?

The thought itself was unnerving, the chance to erase it too great. There had to be something, anything to hide it, banish it from touching her. She scrambled past the mirror toward the shelves trying to find something to make it all go away. The creams wouldn't work fast enough, the gels to heal scars took months to keep them from showing. Why wasn't there anything that would work? Couldn't there be something?

Mary-Lynnette's frantic search caused the bottles to tumble over. "No! No, no, no, no….."

"What are you doing?" Ash flicked on the remaining lights in the room casting shadows over the floor.

She didn't think that it was really possible for a vampire to be tired; the circles under his eyes were evident. His eyes were filled with a sorrow that she had never seen in him before, a worry, fear, and every emotion that was filled inside those eyes.

"I….I just…." I can't show him.

Quickly Mary-Lynnette turned until her neck hid the mark in the shadows. She didn't want him to see, the fact that she was now branded by the very evil that they were fighting against…. His father…

"How long? How long was I gone?" She asked.

Ash made his way over to her, "You were held hostage for two weeks and four days. You've been asleep for another three days without leaving this room. You've been away from me for so long that I never left your side once you were back, did you think I wouldn't notice that you were gone again? Even if was leaving my side for a few moments?" He stopped only when his fingers could graze themselves against her skin. "What are you doing?"

Mare just looked up at him trying to figure out what to say. How could she? She could only look up at him, fear clearly evident in her eyes. And while the storm of fear raged even harder in her it was clear that Ash was trying to control his as a means of comfort to her. And he seemed to know her plight.

His hands guided hers away from her neck, a warm palm to soothe the pain that built there. A thumb gentle against the hollow with a pressure to get her to really look up at him, her face titled up towards the light to expose what she was trying to hide most.

She watched as his eyes darkened, utter sadness filling his face. They both knew what this meant; she was branded, like a piece of property. "I'm not…"

What happened next surprised her the most. Ash had stopped her voice, not by words, but by the hot breath there. It was strange, how strong his grip was to make her stay where she was, trapped so that she couldn't move away and yet so gentle that she felt he was only cupping her face with a soft palm. He bit down softly, pulled back only slightly before biting down again harder, not with fangs, but with teeth that wouldn't spill her blood. He kept going, tongue against her skin in a way that made her knees weak and fingers grasp at the wall to steady herself against something sturdy. She whispered his name, caught up in the feelings that flew through her, the way her stomach tightened and how her fingers tingled against the sensation of his teeth grazing against her skin. There was a hypnotic feeling, a wave of strange feelings that built up inside her. And then it change, the pull on her flesh stopped and came with soothing kisses, ones that captured she between his lips and feathered across her skin. His nose buried against her, taking in her scent.

When Ash finally pulled away she gave out a weak mewl in protest and for the first time in a long time there was just a hint of the Ash Redfern that he had once been, one where his world was complete and careless filled with her, he chuckled with a hint of a crooked smile and brushed his lips against hers.

"Mine" He whispered.

"What?" she said.

"You will always be mine." A small hint of his dazzling smile began to grow, "Nothing but me will ever touch your skin and leave a mark. Whatever is there will be replaced by me, nothing will change that."

Ash pulled away and Mary-Lynnette missed the heat that came off of him, the circle of his arms and the scent of his skin. He pulled her away from bathroom, away from the mirror that held a broken girl and back into a room that was filled with a warm glow of a fire, warm and inviting. The smells of cedar and oak swirling in the air as the wood popped and cracked in the embers.

"Ash." She said.

He paused and turned toward her, waiting for her, looking as if he would do anything for her and she had no doubts that if she asked for the moon she would find it outside her window tied together with a bow and a loving man.

Her fingers tightened around his, the knots in her stomach loosened. It took now, with him standing there in front of her to chase away all the doubts she'd had in her mind. The rough road ahead would have to deal with that fact that they were going to stay together. No matter what.

"I love you." She said.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Ash should have left the room, his anger had grown to outstanding heights, but his stubbornness refused to leave her by herself as she recounted on the events that had taken place. For brief moments Mary-Lynette felt as if she was reliving everything all over again. The fear that gripped at her and the nightmare that all of this was a dream, that at any moment she would wake up still chained to a bed.

Lord Thierry and Hannah listened as she told her story, as it went on Hannah's face grew paler and Lord Thierry seemed to grow more concerned. Mare thanked him silently in her head, his questions were gentle and he was patient as she gathered her thoughts and composure. But even she was feeling the pressures of continuing with her story.

"One last question and then you can leave. I'm sorry, but we can't wait on this," Thierry paused a moment, "Hunter Redfern stumbled upon something, the ideas that perhaps the soulmate principal could be severed. How much information does he have?"

"I don't think he's even realized the power of it. When he—when it happened it was if something attacked him. Whatever happened it hurt him, but I don't think he understands what exactly happened to him though. But he does know that something happened and he wanted to understand it. They day I got out was when he wanted to start something. I—I just don't know what. I didn't want to stick around and find out."

There was a heavy silence that sat on them all; they were all taking it in hoping that something would help them to understanding everything. Or that any minute someone was going to jump out at them and say April fools! Somewhere in his mind that's what Ash was hoping for. But there was nothing, even Mary-Lynnette's hand ha gone lifeless in his grip. He had noticed this about her lately, the way that she broke away from the world and detached from everything, even him. He didn't understand any of it. No matter how much he was afraid that if he pushed her too much then she would break. The idea of losing her again was something he just wasn't willing to even think about.

"What are we going to do?" Lady Hanna addressed Thierry, hoping that he new the answer, in a sense they all were. After all Lord Thierry was the leader, the one that was supposed to protect hem all and have all the answers.

They watched in silence as he contemplated. A pause and then he spoke, "So as of right now we really don't know how much he understands or if Redfern knows the power of what he could stumble upon. If he finds out—I don't even want to think about that danger. For the safety I think I'm going to pull away couples from the field for a bit, at least from other continents. If another couple gets taken I'm afraid for what's going to happen. Ash I'll let you take a few more days. But after that I'm sorry but I need you back out there especially since there could be a lot more dangers in store for us."

Out of everyone that could have knocked on her door the girl standing in front of her was the one Rashel would have never guessed. Her question as well just added to the shock.

Mary-Lynnette stood there, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt and gaunt eyes starting out as if at any moment someone was going to strike at her. Rashel could barely mutter anything out of her mouth before Mare spoke. Mutters and the words were brief and short before she walked quickly away.

"Could you help me get stronger?"

This was something that she had to do on her own, she couldn't ask Ash; his need to protect her was warm and comforting but whenever he wasn't around she felt like a little girl who was afraid of the monster under her bed. This was no way to live; she had to be able to stand on her own. In her dream world he would always be there to protect her, but in reality Mare's biggest weakest could harm them both in the end. If anything happened to Ash she would never be able to live with herself.

Before Mary-Lynnette completely lost her nerve she had literally mumbled words about her intention and then scrambled away before Rashel could say anything against the matter. She would get stronger, she had to otherwise all she would ever be was a target. Another victim, there were just some things that she just refused to be ever again. She jut wasn't sure how she was going to tell Ash.

The girl curled up, her back pressing up against the headboard of the bed and a book that laid barely touched on the sheets. There were things that she just couldn't shake. The fears that gripped at her and the idea of going through that again….

What if I wake up and I find myself back where I was? Back in that attic where the heat pressed against her and the clunks of footsteps that made her jump with a cold down her spine. Mary-Lynnette knocked her head against wall as if hoping that something would help her with an idea.

Faintly she heard breathing, a gentle snore that came just a few feet away. Afraid that she would disappear again Ash had managed to grab a cot from someplace or another and ended up on the far side of the room. Her protector wasn't that far away. He never was.

With a deep breath and before she could gather her wits about her, Mare grabbed a pillow and padded across the floor. As gently as she could she pulled the blankets away from the sleeping body and crawled in.

Ash moaned slightly, turning towards her, a warm breath fluttering on her skin and he didn't wake. Not yet anyway. She laid down facing him, her eyes watching him as he slept.

Things will be different, they have to be.

_Sorry that it has taken so long for the next chapter. But there comes a time when things are starting to whine down and come to an end. There won't be much more of this story. There will be at least four more chapters, maybe a little more. But everything has to come to an end. Sadly_

_Again I am sorry that this is such a short chapter. But I will make up for it. _

_But I am gonna keep writing, I definitely think another Nightworld story is in order _

_If anyone is a Peter Pan fan I am gonna start a story on that! So please, keep an eye on my page because in the next few days its coming._


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